New Adventures
by TheSaiyanNes
Summary: Join these new Hunters and Huntresses in training as they struggle through the lives of warriors. This story includes never before seen Grimm and never before seen teams. It takes place before Team RWBY and after team STRQ where there are several years of peace... or at least that's what the history books say. due to this unique timeline get ready for brand new experiences!
1. Proglogue

_Authors' notes: This will be my first official series either written or animated. I would really appreciate it if you could give feedback and reviews to help me in my path to becoming a creator of works. This series is going to be something similar to a RWBY fan series. The events in this series will not be taking place during the time period of either team RWBY or team STRQ as there is a fairly large gap in time between them this story will take place then, after team STRQ has left Beacon and before team RWBY are old enough to join. Doing this allows me as a creator many freedoms, as I do not have to bind my story around the plot of RWBY nor do my characters have to have any influence or reference towards team STRQ. Due to this story being in a different time period it also allows me to completely change some things, like the initiation and such. As this is a fan series I will be introducing new variants of Grimm from the Fandom rather than sticking to the strict list of Grimm already identified in the series. I will attempt to showcase the perspectives of all four members of the team rather than one individual character, that being said, the main character will be the first shown and will most likely get the most screen-time. I apologize for the lengthy intro but I will try to talk to people through these Authors' notes before and after each chapter. Ok well with all that said and done, let's get into it shall we? Make sure to leave a review to help me become a better writer._

 **Prologue**

' _October 19_ _th_ _, such a random date,_ _although not entirely random if you think about it; after all if you add 1 and 9 from the 19 then you get 10 which is the same month number.'_

A boy wrote in a small journal he held close. He made a game with the numbers of the day. The boy began writing again thinking of his current situation, as if were making an autobiography.

' _Guess I'll start from scratch today. After all you are a new journal so I should get things situated between us. My name is X. Although I only "purchased" you about three hours ago I feel as though we will share a lot of stories together.'_

He looked up from his book. As he lifted his head a woman shrieked sending a chill down his spine. Something that could hold as much fear as that shouldn't have been allowed in such a peaceful area on such a peaceful day. X quickly deposited his new found friend into his back pocket, the leather binding gripping the insides of his pocket tightly. Boosting forward towards the source of the scream, feet slamming into the piping hot pavement. Arriving only to find a young girl still shaking from the scare. A man dressed up in a plant costume and had clearly scared the ever-loving shit out of me. X was mentally preparing himself for something much more sinister. The only reply he could muster was a heavy sigh and a palm to the face. _"Right, as if something like that could actually happen in a town like this"_ X thought to himself. Relieved that there was no need for action, but also frustrated at the lack of challenge. With the crisis averted he pulled out his leather journal once more. Tightly holding the attached pencil with vigor as he became determined to finish his autobiographical introduction.

' _I'm a 17-year-old Hunter in training, although I wouldn't really call myself a "Hunter" at heart, all I want is to fight and have hella fun. If that's against badass monsters or hot babes, I don't mind either way. I guess now would be as good a time as any other to describe myself. Well let's see, I'm totally ripped'_

He wasn't.

' _I got a ridiculously handsome face, with like the perfect amount of scruff'_

Slightly above average at best with patchy facial hair that hasn't been shaven for a couple weeks.

' _I have sick white hair that flows naturally and flows in the wind'_

It's incredibly wild and with an untamed look to it.

' _Since I'm a Faunus I have these super sexy ears atop my head, being a Faunus definitely helps in pretty much every way imaginable'_

They are white cat ears. He also has a tail but he prefers to wrap that around his waist on the inside of his clothes, as it draws a lot of attention. And since when are ears sexy?

' _And I have the strongest weapons in existence!'_

That's more of an opinion than anything else.

' _But enough about me, that's not what today's all about, today, is the final round of the Vytal Festival here in town'_

He wrote as he began heading deeper into town, stalls and stands seemingly alive with activity. No wonder people traveled from miles around to get their foreign cuisine from all over the world. Pocketing the journal he began his journey to the arena. Not having much money meant he had to watch whatever possible from random bar screens. He had barely scraped up the dough to purchase the ticket for the final round. That was way too important to miss. He looked at the time on a random clock on a stand and noticed that he had about an hour before the match would start. So he quickly finished up any business he had in town, deciding what kind of stand he should go to before heading to the arena. _"Hmmm, I want to try something foreign, but Atlas food has always been a bit too pricey, Vacuan food is a bit too rich for my taste… maybe something from Vale then? I haven't had any bad experiences with Valeish food before"_ he thought. Choosing a kind of food was the easy part. Now came the difficult bit, finding and singling out a Valeish stand from the hundreds of stalls. After having chosen a decent but cheap Valeish stand. It had intricate lights and wasn't completely covered in rusted metal. He approached the stand with a thin smile thinking of what to eat when suddenly the man behind the stands called out to him "Hey you, find another stand!" The man was wearing overalls and light t-shirt. From behind the stand, he glared at X with those pitch black eyes. As if he were looking at a disobedient pet. Stopping his tracks, immediately understanding the situation

"Excuse me?" X spoke as if trying to act innocent to all the bystanders, slumping his shoulders slightly and lowering his ears.

"We don't serve your kind here," he said with complete confidence. His greasy brow creased, staring him down with discontent.

"My kind?" X tried to play innocent a little more. Attempting to incite the crowd to rise against the racist. He swiveled around towards his hoped saviors. All he saw was everyone, even his fellow Faunus were simply hiding their faces and quickly walking away. They clearly had no intention of supporting their fellow man.

"I said go find another stall… Or else" the man threatened. X gritted his teeth. It really pissed him off when people like this bested him. He wasn't going to fight a man in public. Not a weakling who could barely activate his Aura. All that would do is cause further discrimination. He would be seen as the animal in human skin that attacked an innocent man. X swiftly turned on his heels and shoved his hands into his pockets. Admitting defeat, X turned sharply on his heels. He could hear faint laughter from the sleazeball as he walked in the opposite direction.

X's eyes quickly caught a new stand that stuck out to him as cozy. Its wooden construct was seemingly well intact. The stand had a small, stained canopy to block out the sun's rays. The man behind the counter quickly served a dish. Barely having to speak as if the old man could read his mind, or rather, his ears. The dish set before him was a large bowl of noodles with fish bits. He thanked the old man with a shiny head and scruffy face. The cook simply nodded in return. X finished his mediocre meal in what felt like seconds. Then began moving towards the nearest airship. It didn't take long, only a couple minutes to reach the floating stadium. Once there it seemed to take an eternity to find an available seat. In reality, the search lasted less than ten minutes, but to him standing in line and doing absolutely nothing was tortuous. Tack on the awful stench of grease and sweat and it was unbearable.

"Yeah no downsides to being a Faunus alright!" he cried out in utter sarcasm. his voice not making it more than five feet before being drowned out by the sea of voices. He could barely breathe without gagging, and the long wait and shoving bodies didn't make him feel any better about it. He soon pulled out his Journal to simply write six words in big bold letters in the center of the page.

' _I HAVE MADE A HUGE MISTAKE'_

Soon enough he was finally free from the agony of the long waiting line as he was able to get in, luckily for him he was able to snag a seat near the mid section close to the front-row, they were still selling tickets so he knew they weren't sold out, so not all the seats would be taken anyway, and if someone did show up he'll just snag some other suckers seat. It wasn't that long of a wait for the lights to dim preparing the audiences for the fight, the long waiting line has gotten rid of most of the time before the match on its own. Within a couple minutes two figures emerged from opposite sides, he recognized them both from the dozens of matches before hand; on the right was a Mistral fighter by the name of Chro Tanner, Leader of team CHRM (Charm). Chro was an amazing brute, he was tall and big, he wielded two fat gauntlets that fit over his fists like metal blocks. Through the fights he had seen Chro had always been the final blow dealer, he would always hit heavy enough to send shockwaves into peoples Aura, at one point he managed to completely destroy one man's Aura with a single strike.

In the other corner was X's favorite and who he would be rooting for today, Flae from team FLAM of Beacon in Vale Flae was awesome, and there was no chance in X's head that he would lose, Flae was a well-rounded fighter, unlike most he didn't prioritize one thing over the other, giving him a large variety of attacking and defending strategies to pull from. X always prided himself on his advanced knowledge of semblances and could often predict what kind of semblance someone would have but even to him Flae's Semblance just avoided his suspicions, making it difficult to predict what kind of semblance he had. Flae's weapon was much more impressive appearance wise than his opponent's and in X's opinion, much deadlier. Flae's weapon was a flamethrower of sorts, in its base form it was much like a large brick with a disc shaped hole in the front that would spew flames, the fronts of the flamethrower had two chainsaws like blades extruding from it.

Chro had the advantage in more ways than one against Flae. Being a previous champion of the Vytal Festival meant that he had more combat experience, and to top that, he is also the third year whereas Flae would only now be concluding his second year. Despite this shortcoming X had no doubt in his mind that Flae would win flawlessly, to him, there was simply no way to defeat someone who could spew red dust by the gallons.

X, who was now literally on the edge of his seat couldn't wait in anticipation as they closed in on one another, the ring they would be fighting on lifting from the ground. They took their stances and readied themselves for the biggest fight of the year. Although X knew a lot about Flae he knew practically nothing about Chro so this fight was sure to be interesting.

Soon the Commentator began speaking into the Mic preparing the audience and re-explaining the rules. "Alright, although it's the final round and everyone wants to see an amazing fight, let's keep it clean folks, that means that once your opponents Aura hits the red, it's game, set and match, If your opponent's aura depletes completely they won't have any way of healing or defending themselves from your weapon, that being said, as long as your opponent has Aura, don't hold back, in the heat of a fight, one mistake can cost you everything! Now ready…" The Commenter began a countdown and the crowd joined him as thousands of arms went up all at once as they shouted the words

"SET!" X sat on the edge of his seat awaiting the final word that would begin the match and joined with them all screaming the simple yet powerful word

"BEGIN!" Everyone shouted together causing such an uproar that X had to tuck his ears in trying to block out the sound but nothing would distract him from the scene that he would be witnessing in person. As soon as the words flew from his mouth the two immediately began their assault, as Chro tried to lessen the distance between them Flae took the advantage and began firing flaming discs from the mouth of the gun, causing Chro to backtrack, he would dash side to side to avoid the flaming discs, but he didn't have to for long as Flae quickly ran out of ammunition and began preparing his weapon for its intended use, getting closer to reach the optimal range. Chro took the range difference to his benefit as he punched towards Flae still from a distance as suddenly Flae fell to the floor seemingly of his own accord everyone seemed to as surprised as X was at the motion. Chro took the advantage and closed the distance between them, Flae began spraying red dust all around himself causing the area around him to burn to a crisp; he quickly got up but only to find that Chro had out-maneuvered him. For a big man, he moved fast, as soon as Flae noticed him it was already too late; Chro unleashed a three hit combo before knocking Flae from his feet. Flae rolled and brought his weapon to front spewing hot flame towards Chro who barely escaped the inferno, his aura chipping away every second he withstood it.

Once they distanced again they were back to square one, too far for either of their weapons to be useful, and with neither of their aura having dropped too far. Once again Chro punched towards Flae even from their distance it wouldn't have been useful, but that's not what Flae portrayed as he quickly backed away as if dodging an invisible force, this force wouldn't be invisible forever however once Flae shot towards Chro thin strands caught aflame and began trailing back towards Chro's gauntlets as if they had shot them when he punched. Chro didn't let up however as he slammed his fists together before punching rapidly towards Flae from a distance each punch launching dust rounds towards him. X had underestimated the gauntlets but they seemed much more effective than originally suspected. At the current distance, all Flae could do was to attempt to dodge as many as possible, although some managed to bounce from his aura chipping away at it. Flae began to make his way back into the fray getting closer to use his weapon at its proficient range; Chro noticed and began to move forward preparing to strike Flae. He quickly began to spew flame towards Chro not holding back trying to capture him in the inferno. Chro was caught inside it but continued through it, taking a heavy hit on his aura, but upon getting closer he was able to punch his weapon to the side, and then performed a ten hit combo on Flae not letting him have a moment to breathe.

The moment he was free from the unrelenting fists he swung his weapon towards Chro who narrowly avoided the wild swing of desperation, and landed another three hit combo on Flae before sending him flying with a powerful strike to his chest. Flae got back up to his feet, the crowd going nuts over the intense fight, the sound crashing against X's ears. Normally it would bother him beyond annoyance, but today that was nothing in comparison to the suspense he was feeling for the fight at hand, Flae was below half Aura Meanwhile Chro had taken less than a quarter of damage, it was clear that unless Flae did something, this match would only end one way. Flae then gripped his handle and twisted, revealing his weapons second form, the center of the block split down the center, and opened up, the handle twisting around to extend into a long pole, causing the weapon to split into a long pole with a chainsaw at each end of the pole, flame seeping from the ends, he gripped the middle of the pole tightly as he hoped to best Chro in close quarters combat. The Audience boomed their cheers for the new weapon form were like that of fan girls. Chro simply grinned, he knew that Flae had to change tactics but to challenge him in his own category would be suicide, nevertheless, he charged in expecting resistance. What he got, however, was a rapid spin of a pole arm length chainsaw. The blades reached out to meet him as he tried to close any distance, Flae had been smart, he had transformed his weapon into a melee form so to keep Chro close, but used its length to keep him far enough away so to not let his defense fall. Chro didn't mind however as suddenly Chro punched his fists together slowly drawing them apart, as lightning arced between the metal, before clinging to individual fists, as Chro punched a one-two combo towards Flae, electricity arced forward, clinging along the metal of Flae's weapon and striking him. It would have been impressive if that had been it, but as soon as the electricity struck Flae lighting shot from the sky and plummeted into him as if tracking the electricity from Chro's attack. The powerful four hit combo blasted Flae to the ground, his aura nearly gone.

"Holy shit! What a Semblance! I've got to have that one" X proclaimed before closing his eyes and thinking back to the strike Chro had performed, thinking to himself _'Semblances, the embodiment of our Souls, They say no two Semblances are alike and therefore no two semblances, and yet My soul defies that reasoning, my aura feeds my semblance in ways that defy their very nature'_ before suddenly another uproar of cheer caused him to open his eyes again and turn his attention back to the fight. Chro started towards Flae, who could barely get to his knees. The fight was as good as over, Flae barely had enough to do anything while Chro was almost untouched, and the skill gap a single year could bring showed in this fight. But suddenly everything changed, as if a glitch the Aura meters on the overhead screen completely changed, switched even, but at near the same instant Chro fell to the floor and Flae immediately jumped up with great speed and power bringing his weapon to Chro's neck, standing victorious while barely breathing heavy. It had happened so fast no one knew what it was. Not X though, he knew, his proficiency with Semblances helped him yet again as he could almost feel the semblance. He closed his eyes once more and thought back to the scene, remembering, and realizing that it wasn't a simple glitch, they had literally changed Aura levels, it must have been Flae's Semblance, to exchange Aura, what an amazing tactical power.

' _I have witnessed Gods, and they walk among us'_

Was all X could do, he couldn't talk he couldn't think all he could do was simply write those words, close the journal and hold it close to his chest. Not believing the awesome fight he had just witnessed. Chro and Flae both stood to face each other and shook hands signifying the end of the battle and an honorable victory. The boom of applauds and cheers rocked X in his seat as his ears recoiled from the bombardment. He held his hands to his ears and waited for it all to stop, missing anything the commentators were saying, in all honesty, he had forgotten they existed. He was too focused to hear them at all during the match. After the initial outburst, the crowd began to die down as everyone rushed out of the coliseum for some reason, when suddenly X's ears perked up to a nearby kid shouting back to his friend as they ran for the nearest exit pushing through the crowd. "Hurry up! If we're not fast enough we might miss our chance to meet Flae!" He quickly snapped out of his shock as he remembered one of the reasons to have purchased the final round ticket, being able to talk to and meet the victor of the Vytal Festival was not a very common occurrence as it was the only tradition in Mistral. He sprang from his seat determined to meet the man and ran as fast as he could, shoving his way through the crowd not caring about social etiquette anymore. As soon as he was free from the large group fleeing through the exit hallway he sprinted to the western side of the arena where Flae would be since he was just shy of the North-Western corner he hadn't far to go, but he didn't want to miss the chance no matter what. As soon as he saw the giant group huddled together he began to fear he was too late, still, he pushed on, forcing his way through the crowd to the front, where to his amazement, and Flae stood. He hadn't missed it, not yet at least. Flae was waving and smiling to the group pointing to random people who were calling out to him for questions, he would reply a quick answer and move on to the next. X made sure to make his presence noticed and Flae actually acknowledged him, asking him what his question was, but when he was put on the spot X couldn't think, he just stood there like an idiot with an open mouth, Flae raised an eyebrow before speaking again "Well? You seemed really spunky, don't you have something you want to know?" he questioned, and X could only respond with a nod, it was weird, being questioned when you were supposed to be asking the questions "So what's your question? Don't tell me you just want to get an autogra-"

"How do I join Beacon!?" was the question that sprang from his mouth cutting Flae off and sending a ripple of confused looks through the crowd, Flae, however, grinned at the question, genuinely grinned, not something that was forced for the cameras, but he actually smiled for someone that wanted to go to the same school as he.

"Here" he said handing X a small piece of paper, after having written something on it "It's an autograph, sell it, and pay your way" he said with another one of the movie star grins, before moving on to the next question, but when X observed the paper, there was a number on it rather than an autograph, sneakily Flae had given him a much better chance than he could have openly. X nodded towards Flae with a wide grin, which saw from the corner of his eye and smiled. X then backed away from the group allowing the other fans time with the new champion. He quickly placed the piece of paper into the folds of the journal's pages and put it into his back pocket for safety as he walked away from the group of fans; Heading towards the Exit of the arena. Upon nearing one of the transport ships heading back to Mistral X stood next to the ledge looking down to the city below, amazed by how buildings look like ants from this high up.

"Transport to Mistral?" the worker asked, he stood next to the gate to the airship and was who allowed access to it

"Nah, I'm good," X said calmly before grinning and walking off the edge.

 _Authors' Notes: Sorry about it being so long, I just can't help myself, I was going to originally make this about twice the length, including Chapter 1 in the Prologue but decided that this should be enough to hopefully get a good idea of X make sure to leave a review, I DESPERATELY need them. My main problems a lot of the times are my sentencing, most of the time Run on Sentences are my rival. Regardless, tell me what you guys think of X? Can anyone guess what kind of weapon(s) he uses? And does anyone have any possible ideas for the future? Speaking of which, can you guys come up with ideas for a different initiation? I've been trying but I can't think of anything good, thanks again for reading! ^.^_


	2. Chapter 1

_Authors' Notes: HELLO! And welcome to Chapter 1, now for anyone who thought the Prologue was way too long well… actually, that's going to be around the average size of my chapters, I mean I'm going to try to give you guys some great reading material so if my quality is bad (first written series) then I guess I'll have to focus on quantity lol. Anyway, thank you so much for reviewing, it really means a lot to me, and I'm going to be pumping out a chapter per week, or at least try to. That being said let us begin!_

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

There he was plummeting to the ground below without a hint of fear. His grin spread from ear to ear as he could see the ground rapidly approaching. He knew he wouldn't have long left to enjoy it so he spread his arms; the feeling of the wind gushing along his body was more than his share of excitement. He could hardly contain his joy as the Church building below him began to stretch outwards towards the sky, the spire of the roof acting as an arm reaching for him. He laughed at the thought of being skewered and decided to take matters into his own hands… or rather, his feet. As soon as he was within reach of the building his metal anklets, sprang to life. As if possessing his body, they entrapped his feet, forming their complex structure to create a pair of metallic skates. The skates were black in color and were complete with a full set of blades. The sides of both skates were comprised of three sets of blades, and each one had a large spike on their front and back. Even the wheels themselves were formed from three bladed spikes that were aligned together to form a smooth bladed wheel. As he approached the building he used his skates to grind along the outstretch of the church, holding onto it with his hand as he spun around it trying to keep as much momentum as he could. Once he reached the flat roof he quickly launched himself from the spire, racing along the rooftop as fast as he could manage with his current momentum. He would continue his race across the city along the rooftops and along the alley walls keeping as much momentum as he could, wanting to keep the thrill of the speed.

"HELP! THIEF!" X's ears perked at the shout in the distance, quickly changing course to the crime in action. He didn't waste his speed and was able to arrive where the woman called out just a few moments after the scream. Being there so fast he was able to catch up with the woman. He was able to quickly tell the situation, in the distance a man ran carrying a purse, and a woman tried to give chase, but being in heels meant she wouldn't get far very fast. X took everything into account and quickly caught up to the man on foot, circling around him so that he could skid to a stop in front of the man cutting him off. The thug stopped dead in his tracks and mumbled under his breath 'Filthy Animal' X could hear, again, being a Faunus had its benefits. Although the insult cut deep, X didn't let it show, besides, he'd heard worse on a regular occasion, but still, being called an animal was never a pleasant experience.

"Well, what do I have here? You must know that that purse does not match your outfit. What were you thinking? I'm going to have to punish such bad fashion sense." X taunted sarcastically.

"Look pal, just mind your own business and we'll go our separate ways ok?" The thug offered, truly a compelling case, but not compelling enough

"Dude, you've got to be one of those hostage negotiators right? You're really good at this…" X retorted continuing to taunt the thief

"You're going to regret fighting me buddy, what are you going to do? Skate circles around me?" the man threatened, pointing out his weapons.

"You could quit calling me 'Buddy' by the way. Name's 'X' better memorize it, when you go to hell they'll ask you sent you." X smirked knowing that he was better at this banter

"If we're giving away names might as well reveal mine, it might make you piss yourself though… my nam-"

"I'm going to cut you off right there… I couldn't care less what your name really is because to me, you're just another rabble, so to make you feel better I will graciously give you a new name… how about 'Example A'?" X cut him off to address him his new name

"'Example A'? What kind of name is that!?" Example A questioned obviously torn between his own name and why his new name is so stupid, X's insult getting to him.

"You know, 'Example A' as in, you're the first example of what a 'Filthy Animal' can do" X retorted bringing up the insult from before, making sure to express no emotion against it.

"I'm going to make you regret getting in my way" X chuckled lightly before bending down, reaching his left foot all the way back keeping his right foot planted, holding the ground in a feral looking stance

"Wow, you really are a common criminal, you even got a one-liner and everything" Example A barely had time to get into a battle stance as he quickly shoved the purse into his back pocket, the small travel bag barely fitting. As soon as he brought up his fists X gripped the ground and pushed off with both hands and his right foot to give himself a large initial boost, he used his left foot to quickly keep the pace as he moved faster than any normal person could sprint, the skates offering him a massive advantage in speed. As soon as he got close Example A punched outwards, trying to go for a heavy right hook, but X easily dodged to Example's right holding his right foot out so that he would kick his foot out from under him as he passed by. Example didn't even see the exchange as his leg was thrown out from under him throwing him off center and falling forward, only to barely catch himself at the last moment, he turned his head towards X while he was on his hands and knees not expecting another attack immediately after the original transaction.

All he saw was a knee as X passed by the thug once more laying his Knee into the man's face with speed. X was too fast for him to catch up to, but all he had to do was get him off balance and the battle would quickly turn in his favor. Deciding that his semblance would be the best chance he had he quickly rolled to his feet only to see X coming in yet again now from the left. As X closed in Example punched once more, but as X dodged a ripple erupted from the thugs' fist and expanded outwards as if his punch had caused a kind of sonic boom. The blast knocked X away and caused him to stumble, but that was all the thug needed as he saw the man jumping at him preparing another devastating punch. X knew that if any would actually make contact he'd be done with. X managed to roll away from the attack only to see the ground shatter where he was once lying. X managed to distance himself so that they would both be waiting for the other to make the initial move, giving X an opening. X closed his eyes and thought back. He remembered the powerful strike that sent ripples through the air, and caused the ground to shatter, and as he opened them he felt as if he had a better understanding of his opponent.

The man got ready for anything X would throw at him; X simply grabbed his jacket, flicking some latches, letting strands fall from it. About a dozen strands hung from his jacket and legs as they fell to the ground behind him. The thug seemed to take caution and interest in them as he examined each one, noticing that some were longer than others, but all had a sharp hook attached to their end. X took his stance yet again and prepared himself. He shot forwards, and threw one of his strands to his side, and began heading to the far right of Example A, as if trying to circle him, Example began to prepare himself waiting for X to try to get behind him. But all of a sudden the strand that had been thrown to the side, became taunt, it had embedded itself into the ground and gave X a tether to swing himself with, using his momentum X didn't give Example any time to react. Example quickly tried to bring his arms up to try to block the attack. However it didn't work because as soon as X got close he punched towards the man barely making contact, when suddenly the air rippled and caused a sonic boom sent directly into the man, X skidded to a stop after having returned to his strand. The man was left on the ground riving in pain from the strike that resembled his own semblance. X smirked as he picked up the purse, the woman who was watching the fight now began to approach him, he noticed her and before turning around he quickly withdrew the lien from the wallet, and pocketed it, ensuring that he at least got paid for his trouble. He turned around and handed back the purse with a smirk. The woman thanked him and began to head on her own way. X deactivated his weapons allowing them to transform back into their ankle-bracelets yet again, and as he began to head his own way he could hear the voice of the thug yet again, calling out to him

"Wha… What are you?" He asked weakly holding himself in pain

X took a second to respond thinking of the perfect retort, before smirking and replying "Well… I guess you could say that I'm… A Copy-Cat" he said with a wink before walking off with his hands in his pockets leaving the man on the taunt.

* * *

 _Three Months Later_

' _Here we are. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be to get in, the number Flae provided me called a support agent from Beacon that helps those in need to attend Beacon. I still have a couple hours before we arrive in Vale, but I can hardly wait. The flight has been full of suspense but we'll arrive soon. Soon I'll be in Remnant's best Combat school!'_

X wrote in his journal documenting his progress to Beacon; as it turned out Flae was on a first name basis with one of the major Grant funders for Beacon and told him about X. When he called the man had already set up a large grant that would prove enough for almost a full ride, he just needed to save up in the months leading to the entry date. As the Airship neared the city he couldn't help but stare out the window watching as buildings got closer. The majority of the other passengers were just normal citizens traveling or visiting friends or relatives, but he could pick out at least four other Hunters in training based on their higher aura levels. Throughout the Trip he had been sure to watch out to see if any of them would use their semblance, to see if it was worth copying.

' _There seem to be four other hunters in training on this ship, I saw one earlier walk to the back of the ship out of sight, but the other three are pretty much together, as if they're friends. None of them have used any of their semblances yet so I'm not sure it's worth even bothering, I still have an extra use of 'Aura Switch' and two more uses of 'Arc Lightning' but I'd still like to have a full third slot'_

He detailed his situation out onto the pages of his Journal, talking into it as if it were an actual person; he always has felt comfortable with the feeling of paper and pen. A few hours of boredom pass until they finally reach the city, the buildings below are modern and civilized, unlike the natural woodsy feeling that Mistral carries around everywhere. He gawked out the window as the airship began its stop dropping off the higher ranking civilians first, that being said the five hunters in training all exited the ship leading to a grand path that showcased the giant building of Beacon Academy. Three of them stood still including X as they all gawked with hanging mouths, the Academy was much more impressive in person than they could ever have expected, books and pictures did it no justice. The center of the academy held a large tower that ascended into the heavens, and there were a string of archways sent in every direction. The lower structures around the tower were more or less foundations for the tower itself, acting as buildings but also as a support for the tower. Eventually X was able to snap himself out of it however and proceeded on down the pathway leading to the school, making sure to take in all the scenery before a large explosion sounded on the other side of a large pillar arc-way. X decided that it wasn't his ground to investigate as it was probably some random fight between students. "Five minutes after landing and this place is already getting me excited" X smiled as he head into the main hall where the majority of people seemed to be flowing towards, seeing a large mass of students it wasn't hard to guess what was going on. It was still a good hour or two before the actual Ceremony would begin so he decided to take the time to write more in detail about the progress to beacon in his journal although it wasn't long until a man walking with a cane in one hand and a mug in the other approached the center stage, where a microphone stood. X took his attention from his journal where he was detailing the academy and gave all of his attention to his new headmaster.

"Welcome" Ozpin addressed the large group of students as if awaiting a response, but before anyone dared speak out he began again "to Beacon Academy… Most of you here have come in search for strength opportunity, and knowledge. Some of you here wish to become hunters to fight the creatures of Grimm, others to defend those you love and hold dear. I am here to make you understand that there are no separate groups here…" Ozpin gave a brief pause to let it sink in; his entire opening had been revolved around how there were different groups of why people came. And now he stated that it was all a lie? Before anyone spoke out again he interrupted the silence "You are all here because you wish to fight. Whether or not you are fighting Grimm out in the forests of Mistral, or here against the border of Vale, you are here to learn how to fight. For that reason alone, I will turn each and every one of you into hunters" Ozpin gave the opening ceremony which was kept fairly short due to Ozpin having left the stage after a brief speech. Glenda took to the stage and informed the mass that they were to be starting the initiation ceremony first thing in the morning and were to become acquainted with others for today to get acclimated with their schoolmates. They were all to stay within the school limits for the night and due to most already having brought everything, the center area was fairly crowded; both with those mingling and those who were trying to sleep. X quickly took a space of solitude, not wanting to be disturbed by common rabble as he observed the large group before him, making sure to watch for any use of semblance, sadly none came however and he was left alone to his Journal where he began to document more of his thoughts before eventually passing out on accident whilst writing as the night progressed.

* * *

 _Authors' Notes: Hey guys! Thanks for reading, this concludes Chapter 1 and shows a bit more of X's personality as well as shows off his Semblance… and before anyone starts speculating his Semblance will be explained in depth by the time the team is made or rather once the team is made, depends on which fits the story better. Anyway, the next couple chapters are going to be centering around the initiation ceremony, so be ready to try to keep track of things lol it'll also be introducing a bunch new characters. So until then see ya!_


	3. Chapter 2

_Authors' Notes: Hello again, (Pyrrha voice over) The chapters aren't going exactly how I planned but that's fine, I'm not an expert on this so I can't really complain when not everything comes together, either way, I'm really enjoying writing all this and REALLY want to keep doing so. So make sure to review it, even if what you have isn't exactly nice, after all, criticism is sometimes better than the best compliment._

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

X woke with a start as someone tapped him on his shoulders waking him. Jumping slightly at the person who interrupted his dream, all he could manage was stare at them, half asleep still. They appeared to be a female, they had long flowing Purple hair and fox ears atop her head, X peered into her Amber eyes, they looked like they were filled with shimmering treasure as he caramel skin compared to the colorful irises. She also started slightly as he jumped, but not really, she simply stared back, her mouth slightly adjourned as if she wanted to say something but had forgotten. Her hand was still hovering in place where his shoulder once was, he observed them as it floated there, they were slender and thin, only a hint of pink beneath the light brown skin that covered her body. She seemed to be wearing some kind of sleepwear as her silk like clothing hung loosely over her body, but he couldn't continue his train of inspections as she seemed to have regained her composure. It most likely wasn't more than a few seconds, but it had seemed like hours passed since he first awoke. Her voice was soft and comforting as if she was trying to be angelic. "Aren't you coming?" she asked of him, tilting her head slightly as he didn't respond initially.

"What?" was all he could muster, still half asleep and not quite sure what to make of the situation

"You're a new student too right? You don't want to miss initiation" she explained as if it was common knowledge, but he didn't seem to understand at all. Initiation? Initiation for what?

"What are yo-" he then realized what she was talking about and quickly sprung to his feet with a panicked expression "We have to hurry!"

"Right" she replied standing up as well as they began to hurry out of the room, only for X to stop near the door way

"Are you going in that?" he questioned her about her apparel having lacked in the 'Armor' category she looked down quizzically as if she didn't understand, but soon her face shot back up beet red as if she hadn't realized she was wearing something so revealing all morning. X slightly nodded towards her with a slight smirk as if telling her to hurry and get dressed as he ran through the door way not wanting to miss out because of someone he didn't know.

He soon caught up with the rest of the group, having spent the night together he could already see pairs of peers, as they began to make their acquaintance with one another, attempting to break the ice between them all. Luckily enough no one other than the mystery girl this morning had bothered him the previous night. "I guess if you sit alone with a book in hand no one would be dumb enough to bother you after all" he spoke to himself as if confirming a suspicion he had previously had. Not that it much mattered in the slightest. X began to scan the students, looking out for anyone that seemed interesting, not wanting to go into this completely blind; he was able to pick up a couple conversations along the walk. A girl by the name of Amber was discussing what the initiation was like, and how the other girl standing next to her, whose name he had yet to pick up, was going to deal with the nerves. After a couple minutes of listening in and boring himself with some basic psychoanalysis of his new peers, he managed to take out his journal and began to draw a large chart sheet listing the names he would pick up from his surroundings, and began attempting to guess anyone's semblance based on their personalities… it was a talent of his.

' _Joseph, he's a rapid talker who prefers to discuss anything regarding his own luck in material gains. Only letting the conversation go so far before reminding the others near him of what he owned thanks to luck. He shouldn't be all that difficult, I mean he screams 'Summon' what type I don't know but he probably has something along those lines.'_

X may have written it in his book for others but he didn't realize that no normal man would understand what he meant by 'Summon' being one of the many categories Semblances can fall into based on his knowledge of them.

' _Amber, this girl has not stopped talking about the initiation and what her biggest accomplishments were, and how they prepared her for this. Even a novice could see that anyone with this big of a self-conscious problem would have a 'Mental' Semblance, I'd even bet somewhere in Hallucinations or such.'_

X continued to write down his analysis of others and their possible semblances until the group reached a small airship that was barely made to fit all these people let alone carry them all. Just as the ship was preparing for lift off, X heard a familiar voice call out, only to see that the mystery girl had just barely made it in time. By the way, she clambered onto the ship getting assistance from three men nearby, she didn't strike X as the fighting type, yet there her weapon was, firmly strapped to her back. It seemed to be some kind of spear. Although with a large tip; she didn't seem to notice him and he figured it for the best after all meeting someone for ten seconds doesn't exactly qualify you as friends. X held himself upright with a handrail as the ship took off, heading deep into the Forever Fall forest. X scanned the ship, looking at the passengers, his new classmates, and was trying to see if there were others such as himself; Outcasts, and socially reclusive. As his eyes scanned he met direct contact with another pair, but as soon as they locked the other pair flicked away looking somewhere else. He raised an eyebrow to this suspecting that they weren't expecting him to look their way, so he kept looking just to confirm. The one who sought him out was a younger looking girl, maybe a year or so younger, not saying much as he was almost a year older than anyone anyway. She had long curly brown hair that fell to her shoulders, and she sat with her hands in her lap and her face pointed up and to the side as if staring at something to the side of her, of course, the window was on the other side so he simply assumed the wall was interesting. She was wearing her combat gear it seemed as she was outfitted in green and black clothing. She had a short black top on with another green slightly shorter on top of it, she had a black clip belt attached across her chest and a light green camo coated vest jacket that came down to the same length of the green shirt. She had long black pants on. The pants had large areas down their sides that were camo green made for design rather than practicality. Her stomach was showing thanks to the short shirts and she had a rather fit body, not very skinny, but not manly enough to scare them off. As X noted her appearance she quickly shot her eyes back on him, she didn't move her head to try not to gain attention again, but as soon as her light sky blue eyes met his they immediately retreated again, this time looking out the window to her right.

X chuckled; his suspicions were true after all. She had been scoping him out, and as he looked closer as she had been seen twice staring at him she had a hint of red coursing through her cheek. The entire event making him forget where they were heading as suddenly the airship rocked slightly as it pulled up to the destination. They all began to spread out onto the large platform. It was strange, they had poles set up along the entire edge of the circular platform. The center, where Ozpin and Glenda now stood, had been seemingly separated from the rest of the platform. Out of curiosity X glanced over the edge and began to feel excited as he noticed how high they were and that the platform seemed to float in position.

"I see that most of you have already begun your attempts to forge friendships and partnerships with those who you found enjoyable to agree with," he said before taking a sip from his mug, X could already tell where this was going. "Now, today you will all begin your first official day in school. You and your partner are to retrieve a relic and bring it here for inspection." Ozpin finished weakly before sipping yet again, this time Glynda stepping forwards to explain in further detail.

"Today you will be given not only your partner for the next four years but also your team." With that 'Cat out of the bag' (Pun intended), everyone looked around and began whispering incoherently before she continued again "the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the duration of your stay here at beacon." With that being said all was explained, whoever he made eye contact with would be his partner and then they would have to retrieve a relic and bring it back to Ozpin. Seemed easy enough, that was, until Ozpin opened his mouth once more, giving the final touches to the speech.

"The teaching staff here at Beacon has been instructed to not interfere; therefore, you will all be on your own from here on in. It is in your best interest to find a partner as quickly as possible and escape, the creatures of Grimm will not hesitate to kill you, so if you are not prepared to destroy everything in sight, you will die." He said with no smile, no frown, just a look of absolute certainty that sent a shiver down the spines of all who would see it. X lightly swallowed having found out the intensity of the initiation and what is to be expected of everyone here. Soon Ozpin took a final sip and nodded his head speaking "You may want to hold on…" as the words fell from his mouth the platform they had all been standing on began to move, slowly it started rotating. Everyone quickly ran for one of the many poles that were now understood to be handles and held on for their lives as the platform rapidly began spinning faster and faster.

"IT'S A FUCKING MERRY GO ROUND!?" X could hear someone scream, he could only smile at such an outburst agreeing with the hint of confusion that littered their voice. The platform was now spinning very fast, everyone held onto their handle for dear life as they were all being pulled out away from the center, X soon got low, and placed his feet against the pole behind his own, so that he was standing against the pull, as he looked up he could see several others having taken the same approach, while others tried holding on with brute strength, meanwhile Headmaster Ozpin and his assistant Glynda were completely safe from the rotation as the center was not conjoined with the outer ring. X's knees began to buckle under the pull and he quickly unhooked his strands, each strand holding a sharp hook at the end, he quickly hooked them all around the pole beneath him so that he was attached to it. He looked up to see how everyone else was faring and he seemed the most secure by far. Others had been using their weapons to hold themselves up, while others were thrown away from the platform entirely as their grip failed them. X noticed one man who was standing against the pole, but with his feet going in opposite directions. _'Well, he's done for'_ X thought to himself and not long after the man's feet slipped making his body crash down against the pole as it found its way between his legs. The man then slid off and flew through the air in a random direction. Soon only a couple students remained including the Purple haired Faunus from earlier. X noted this as she seemed to just be crouching holding a pole with one hand, and began to think that partnering up with the only person he knew at all, who also was a Faunus, and just so happened to be dealing with this rotation the best, might not be a bad idea. But almost immediately after that thought his feet slipped out from under him, as he began to fly away from the platform when suddenly he was yanked back, a light scream erupted from him as he was being dragged through the air. He looked down to notice that the hooks had held and were holding him in place being dragged around by the platform, which now span faster than ever. He quickly got his footing against the edge and put his hands in his pockets laughing whole heartily enjoying the thrill as he hollered in enjoyment.

X looked up over the ledge to see only two other students still holding on, but the Faunus from before was already gone. "No way she fell, so maybe she just jumped?" he rationed and began to feel sick knowing that his only hope of partnering up with her would be lost soon if he didn't catch up. X unhooked himself and he flung off into a random direction at a high speed. "WOOOHOOO" he screamed as he neared the blood colored tree-line. He quickly activated his skates and began to grind branch to branch until reaching the forest floor. Once there he stopped and stood still. He concentrated on his senses trying to pick up any fighting or people nearby. Only to soon hear a distant explosion. Deciding that it was his only lead he started in that direction, as suddenly the wheels of the skates began spinning of their own accord; as if they were motorized. He grinned as they began to pick up speed racing along the forest using his vehicle like skates to his advantage. Only for an Ursa Minor to jump out of a nearby bush startling him, it roared and tried to intimidate him, but he's fought way tougher Grimm. He easily avoids its slash and gets behind it. Sweeping its legs out, he spins around and kicks downwards forcing the spike on the back of his skate through the skull of the Bear Grimm. The mild distraction proved effective as he lost track of the fighting, deciding which direction to go he speed off in hopes of finding someone that he could at least get along with.

After about an hour of racing he finally heard combat again, only for it to die almost immediately, still he knew that it was close so he reached an open clearing and peered out. Only to be met with three sets of eyes, one of which he immediately locked eyes with. She was a slender girl, she definitely wasn't weak but she wasn't a tank either. She had short blue hair that fell around her face in a kind of twisting motion. Her hair covering one of her eyes, the other being a dark Red color, his gaze locked on hers for a moment before observing the rest of her, she has stood atop a dead Ursa Major and held a large great sword in her right hand, the blade still partially stuck in the neck of the beast. His roaming eyes led back up her body, detailing her into his memory as he noticed her clothing last, she was wearing large boots that crawled up her legs they were brown for the most part but had a black trimming along the top, and a Dark brown base near the feet. Her pants were a dark brown color and had a golden trim along the sides of them, with large gray sections hanging down from their top near the pockets. She wore a white dress kind of shirt that was trimmed with red and a black coat over top of it. She didn't have any sleeves on revealing her well-toned arms, obviously meant for holding such a weapon. After he observed her enough he realized she wasn't alone, looking to her right stood a Man he had never seen before, he was wearing a simple outfit, large black combat boots that held tight against his ankles, and long saggy gray pants tucked into the mouth of the boots. He had gray chords hanging around his pockets, purely for design and a long sleeve black shirt on he also had what looked like a vest on as well as black fingerless combat gloves. And Next to him stood the girl he had at least hoped to find, her light Carmel skin shining in the light as he finally noticed her clothing as well. She was wearing something much more concealing than the other girl, as she had long boots that reached her knees, with a light purple trimming. The strings of which were loosely drawn over the opening between them showing the pants tucked into them; she was wearing long dark gray pants and a dark black belt. She seemed to have bracings along her pants that just added to the design of her outfit. She wore a long vest that extended in the back to reach down to her legs acting as a coat, it also had a similar purple trim along its edges and she had a black vest under it. That reached out the top of the coat and gave her a better cover of her cleavage. She had a button up shirt under both of them that would only show thanks to her arms as its sleeves were rolled up only covering her shoulders and the begging of her forearm. She had long black and purple gloves that also didn't cover her fingers. And she had her Purple hair in a braid that came down over her right shoulder in front of her. He shook his head as he finished his mental detailing of the three before him and it seemed they did as well as they snapped out of the shock of seeing another student about the same time. He went to speak when suddenly the trees burst open and a King Taijitu skirted through them into the clearing. Everyone's attention on the monster and a similar look a fear ran through everyone as all three of them began to run away from it towards X who had a similar plan. As all four of them were running the three others caught up to X, The boy on his right and the two girls on his left, the red eyed girl tossed him a relic, which seemed like nothing more than a toy Beowulf. She called out to him while they ran "I'll explain later, welcome to the team!" She shouted as they ran from the giant two headed snake. He looked over to everyone else and say that they were smiling at him as well as if they had already decided that he was a member.

* * *

 _Authors' Notes: and there you have it, looks like the team has found each other, but what do they mean? They couldn't know that they would all become team-mates, could they? And what's going to happen if they just casually stroll up to Ozpin with an angry King Taijitu on their tail? Well, find out next time! Also from this point on the perspective is not going to be solely X it will be switching between characters, I just wanted to establish a solid story before twisting and turning things around all the time._


	4. Chapter 3

_Authors' Notes: before anyone gets confused this chapter will be from a new perspective. Like I said earlier I wish to switch between perspectives, although there is an established "Main character" I don't like the idea of centralizing the plot around only him, so instead I made the beginning with only his perspective to not only establish him and the story, but also to get everyone situated before the chaos of switching perspectives, anyway, enough rambling and ONTO THE CHAPTER!_

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

"Do you have everything you need?" His mother asked, a worried expression filling her face but a look of absolute pride filling her eyes.

"Mh" Greene responded with a simple nod signifying he was ready to embark on the newest chapter of his life. To think that a simple nod could have that much effect on a mother, as tears began to well up, only her will keeping them from flowing. He noticed and simply placed his hand upon her shoulder and smiled. The simple gesture was all that was needed to give her the strength to see him walk out the door.

"Make sure to call me, don't you dare forget. I want to be kept updated every now and then ok?" the mother called out to him as he slowly began making his journey towards center Vale. He waved back to his mother, and to the city he once called home. It was a fair sized city, one of the only ones to be successful outside the main kingdoms; although it was just south of Vale. The outskirts of the town were covered by a thick tree line, and the houses and buildings had moss and plants growing along with them, giving the entire city a peaceful and forest feel to it. His house may not have been the biggest or the nicest, but it was the best in his opinion. No other household shared as many fond memories as his. And as he looked back at it for the last time in who knows how long, seeing his mother standing in the doorway waving him off, He can't lie, he felt more sadness than he has in a long time; but he also felt pride and excitement. It's not like every day you get accepted to Beacon, arguably the best combat school on Remnant. Still, as he looked forward to his new future he couldn't help but feel sentimental towards his old home.

The journey was arduous, as he had to trek over the mountainous side of Vale to reach the inner kingdom. To travel around was suicide for a mere hunter-in-training as he. Still, it wasn't as if he hadn't faced opposition, he had faced several packs of Beowulf and a couple majors along the way, but simple pawns like those had only managed to further reduce his stamina. He would have to camp within the tree line to regain strength before continuing through the open areas, for fear of the stray Nevermore was something he did not want to entertain. Although dangerous he was sure to make it, after all, it wasn't his first time, although this time he wouldn't have three other men and an actual Hunter there helping as they got supplies from the inner kingdom.

After a day or two of travel he had finally arrived within the city limits, a large wall surrounding the city to keep the Grimm at bay was all he could see from the outside, as turrets positioned themselves atop and along the wall's height he could understand why the city was renowned for being peaceful. He reached the gate and the officer stopped him, requesting that he has his weapon inspected and that he give his ID in to ensure he wasn't a terrorist of some kind. His weapon was a simple one, or at least that's what it appears to be at face value. The weapon itself is a large polearm with a long sword like blade, and a large hammer like weight on the opposing end. The inspector quickly strung some yellow dust lines around its blade and handle to ensure that if used, it would have broken the dust lines, not making it safe, but making it so that any investigations would point into his direction if, in fact, he was a terrorist. He began his way inside the city with his possessions and weapon firmly attached to his back, making sure to not hit anyone with his large weapon as he walked by. He was a couple days early for the Start of the new school year so he decided to take residence in a nearby inn. He hadn't been given much money, but he knew that if he could just make it a couple days, he would be fine. The room wasn't exactly what you would call "Cozy" as it had the wallpaper peeling in several locations, and he wasn't too sure how long ago the sheets had been washed, but then again, he got what he paid for, and only a couple dozen lien a night was not exactly fancy. He was able to strip the bed and use some of his own clothes as a temporary sheet, it wasn't really that clean, but it was better than nothing.

The Next day he spent out in town, trying to memorize the locations and directions through the maze of streets. Vale was set up differently than his hometown; where his hometown was built rather quickly and awkwardly, Vale was planned, orchestrated and done with annoying symmetry that was meant to give it a welcoming feel but instead just confused him. The streets were almost always clean and you couldn't look across one without seeing a store. For the majority, the entirety of Vale's inner workings were just hundreds of stores selling everything you could possibly want, from Dust ammunition to laundry dryers. He continued to navigate the city, making sure to take note of his surroundings so he wouldn't get lost. Eventually, it was getting late and he wasn't much closer to understanding the cities layout than he was before, the only problem was that now he was in the middle of the city and had no idea how to reach the cheap hotel near its limits. "Damn" he cursed slightly, the only word he uttered for the last couple days as he stared downwards angry at himself for being stupid enough to randomly wander through a maze like city. He was determined to continue to wander and eventually find the hotel until a soft and calm voice called out to him from behind.

"Hello? Are you lost by chance?" When he turned around he found a girl, she had long flowing purple hair, which fell like silk around her bare shoulders, atop her hair were tall fox ears that perked up at him quickly shuffling his feet in surprise of her. Her skin was a soft and light caramel color that seemed to glow in the light of the street lamp which turned on not too long ago. He gawked at her with his mouth slightly hung open as he etched her into his mind; her body was slender and elegant. Her face was impossibly beautiful to him, with her glowing amber eyes, and her thin lips formed into an amazing smile as time seemed to slow he hadn't realized he'd been staring at her, and she seemed to let him. Eventually, he snapped out of it and nodded his head not even making a sound as she tilted her head slightly as if thinking. "Where are you staying? Assuming you're not a native" she questioned him, and he could barely think, he managed to pull out his wallet and produce a business card from the front desk of the Inn, handing it to her, and as she began thinking of where it would be, he began noticing her clothes. She was wearing a casual outfit, obviously, a free day of hers, as she was wearing a tight white pair of pants that just seemed to fit her color palette, and a loose tank-top the shirt was tilted so that one of her shoulders was bare, and it seemed to work for her. "Did you hear me?" he heard her say and snapped out of it again, only to shake his head. "Well it looks like you're staying in the 'Cordasi' Inn, it's that one by the edge of town right?" this time he was able to pay attention and nodded to her, she smiled at the fact that she was right and seemed happy to help, as she continued speaking "Well I know the way so why don't I show you?" he nodded once more agreeing with the thought of being able to walk alongside her "you don't talk much do you?" He shook his head in response and she lightly giggled, and his heart skipped a beat; at that very moment, he decided to hear that laugh again, no matter what. "I'm Ebony, what's your name?" she held out her hand and smiled pleased to make his acquaintance, her long slender fingers reaching forward, as he grasped them in his own, knowing that it was like taking a rock against silk.

"Greene" he muttered in a low tone barely audible to most people, he knew she would hear him, however, thanks to her being a Faunus. And she shook his hand before speaking once more

"Pleased to meet you" she smiled lightly and so did he before they removed their hands and she began walking behind him so that he would follow. Their walk wasn't as long as he expected it to be, and it seemed to fly even more so because he was still in awe of her, he may have had to look down to meet her gaze, but he felt as though they were of equal level, mostly because of how he could barely notice anything other than her at the moment. They hadn't talked much of anything since the initial encounter and once they reached outside the inn she decided to speak up "It was nice walking with you, some don't understand that silence can be pleasant too" she said and he had to agree with her there, he'd never been one for words but he had always enjoyed listening to others talk rather than himself. "Anyway, it's really late so I should head back… will you be ok on your own, since you're new here" He reflexively began to nod because he knew he would but he decided that he would want her to help him later so he shook his head and she seemed mildly surprised as if she had expected him to be able to handle things, in truth he could, but he didn't want her to know that. She slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out a scroll, which was a cellular like device. "Do you have a scroll?" he nodded reaching into his own and pulling one out "here, call me if you need help with something alright?" she said before placing her scroll against his own, her contact information is sent directly to his phone, he nodded and she pocketed her scroll. "Well I better get going, See you later Greene," she said as she began to walk further into town waving back slightly before turning away. He stood there for a few moments before snapping back to reality once more, pocketing his scroll and heading inside for some much-needed sleep.

The Next day he got ready to leave for Beacon, he would still be a bit early and would have to wait at the school, but he felt that better than getting lost in the city or staying in the filthy room any longer. He gathered all of his belongings and headed out, this time he wouldn't need an escort as he already found his way to the airship docks many times before. He waited for one to land and got on with two other hunters-in-training they called out to him as they noticed his presence and sat by him "Hey, you're a hunter-in-training too right?" he nodded to the boy who questioned him, he was wearing a casual t shirt with a leather jacket covering it, and some black jean pants that had a laid back feel to them, the other boy was wearing similar clothing as he had a hoody on with the hood down and some saggy jogging pants. "Awesome, my name's Titus, and this here is Rufus, we're first years, I'm assuming you are too" He nodded his head once more answering the questions that shot from the excited boy, it was obvious he enjoyed meeting new people and the conversation was at least enjoyable

"Hey, do you want me to shut this guy up for you? Trust me if you let him he'll just keep rambling and never give you any privacy" the other boy stated, it was obvious they were friends and were trying to make his acquaintance since they would be classmates soon enough. But he shook his head in response, wanting the conversation to go well and not have an awkward silence that would follow him shutting his friend up "damn it, man, now you've done yourself in"

"HA! Told you I get along with people well, it's like my old man always said, you can't expect to make friends without talking to strangers." Titus exclaimed, and Rufus sighed obviously feeling defeated by the sentiment. Greene smiled at the banter and enjoyed the rest of the conversation that they had. Eventually, the airship landed and he, Titus, and Rufus all exited the airship as a group, all freezing at the sight of the Academy, taking into account the massive archways surrounding the building and the giant spire leading into the sky that was the headmasters' office. Before any of them were able to get a hold of themselves another passed them by, he was a male Faunus, and Greene took note of his clothing, he had white scraggly hair that two cat ears met at the base of his head, he was wearing a black unzipped jacket, and had black jeans underneath, he couldn't see his front from behind him but he saw that he had a journal sticking out from his back pocket.

Greene followed the two friends and decided to accept them as his first official friends. All three walked through the gardens outside of the main hall where the majority of students were gathering, it would still be an hour till the ceremony, so they took the time to wander around the school. As of now they were in a magical place, even men could appreciate the finality of a garden, and how beautiful one can be, this one was no exception, it had large hedges in specific spots to give a kind of peaceful and private feeling, and the white roses and bumblebees buzzing through the air gave life to the garden. They began walking back towards the main hall when suddenly Greene saw what he thought to be a spot of purple hair slip behind a hedge, he stopped immediately and at first, the other two hadn't noticed. When he began walking towards the hedge that the mysterious girl had slipped behind "Hey, Greene you ok?" the other two called out to him and he snapped around as if waking from a dream. Greene nodded before looking around the hedge only to see more of the garden, with his roaming mind at ease he was able to return to his friends' side as they all three made their way into the main hall.

The opening speech hadn't been all that impressive; it gave a kind of authoritative chill rather than an inspirational team effort feel. And because of everyone being in the main hall, there hadn't been much room to move, he was easily one of the larger guys in the school and had a large weapon to match, but he couldn't help but feel as if he was inconveniencing everyone else. When suddenly another guy approached him, he was a dark skin color and was wearing a basic Pajama set, but he seemed to be in deep thought as he approached Greene "Hey, Names' Jaye, I hear from a little bird that you caused that huge crater outside… getting into fights already, you one crazy dude" but Greene could only stare back in confusion, as he had no recollection of causing a fight today, he did remember hearing a large explosion, but that was on the opposite side of the archways. As soon as Greene went to correct the young man another approached from behind him "That was this guy!? No way, I heard that explosion from the other side of the school" Soon enough another had joined the group that seemed to be debating Greene's life without him. He decided that it wouldn't be fixed with a simple grunt or two so he quickly escaped from them in the confusion as yet another student got into the mix. Greene was already in the exact opposite position than he hoped to be, the center of attention. He managed to eventually find a secluded space amongst one of the corners of the room, gently he laid his weapon against the wall and sat against the wall's intersection, leaning his head back to attempt to get some rest.

Soon enough he heard the shuffle of footsteps, he jumped to his feet and gripped the handle to his weapon that lay a mere foot away from him, only to realize that a room full of students stood before him. Not many seemed to care about his actions and he quickly rubbed the back of his head sheepishly to those that had. He noticed that most of the students were getting dressed and walking out the large room towards the upstairs hallway. Greene decided to follow the flow of traffic. Not needing to get dressed as he was already wearing his combat uniform. He ascended up several stories along with the group of students that lead to the rooftop where an airship was resting. He figured that it must take them to the initiation ceremony so like the rest of the students he climbed aboard. Making sure that his weapon wasn't too tall for the ceiling, He managed to find a spot beside a girl wearing a green and black combat outfit, she quickly looked up to him as he sat down and her light sky blue eyes met his. He smiled slightly, but his expression must have given off the wrong impression as she raised an eyebrow and retreated slightly from him. He rubbed the top of his head lightly and looked away only for her to catch him off guard with her voice. "You know, I've never seen someone with a weapon that's taller than they are." Her voice was deeper than expected, she had such a smaller frame that he would have expected more of a girlish voice, yet her's was much more mature than she would suggest. He turned back towards her and nodded slightly as the airship began to shake lightly, the engines revving beside the body of the ship. More students were boarding the ship but they, for the most part, seemed to be all done.

The trip itself wasn't long, especially due to his curiosity of who the girl beside him kept staring at, having eaten away at the time. But once they arrived everyone began to unload from the airship. Once he escaped the confines of the shuttle he looked around and was immediately greeted by a familiar face. Her brilliant Purple hair glistened across her caramel skin as he stared at her, she wasn't paying attention to him and seemed to be talking to another girl. Greene could only see her through and he began to approach her, grinning uncontrollably, as he reached out and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. She turned around and after a moment where she seemed slightly cautious and confused, her face lit up with joy and surprise. "Oh my! Greene, I didn't know you were a hunter-in-training" Greene nodded lightly and rubbed the back of his head smiling. "Oh, Greene you've got to meet my new friend Sky! She's really smart, and we're thinking about teaming up" At the sound of her joy he was happy, but upon hearing the last couple words his reality seemed to crash around him. He understood as any that teams, for the most part, are random, but your partners are permanent, so to hear her so casually speaking of her possible partner being anyone but himself, it sent chills down his spine.

"O-Oh…. I see" Greene attempted to keep his smile but it was obvious that Ebony noticed as she reached her hand out onto his shoulder comfortingly, trying to reassure him, before suddenly seeming to get an idea

"Well, why don't you join our team? They're made of four right?" She and Greene both perked up to the idea of being on a team together, her Fox ears standing upright from her head. As suddenly the other girl pulled her away and began speaking in private with her, Greene couldn't hear what she was saying, but then again that was the entire purpose of taking her away. Until now Greene hadn't paid any attention to the girl beside Ebony, but now that he had a chance to look at her he was curious as to how they became friends. The girl known as "Sky" had short blue hair and was wearing a rather complex outfit as one of her sleeves reached down to her hand, and the other stopped before her shoulder, she wore a long jacket on and tight pants with tall boots, he couldn't see much of her however due to them being turned away from him. Eventually, they turned back around and Sky seemed upset at their talk as she held her arms across her chest with a pout. Ebony smiled before speaking again "Well it's been decided, we'll all three team up, and find the last member of our team later, what do you say Greene?" His grin returned once more at the thought of being with Ebony for the next four years and he nodded aggressively, wanting to make sure they understood how desperately he wanted to team up with them. Ebony giggled lightly at him vigorously shaking his head and nudged Sky lightly who dropped the pout with a light smile. Soon after Ozpin and Glynda began speaking, they explained to all the students that the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years. All at once Ebony's, Sky's, and Greene's Jaws dropped, up until this point they hadn't known how teams were made, but now they weren't sure if it was possible to create your own team. They continued to speak and reveal their mission to the students. The students were to find a northern Temple and retrieve a relic per pair, once retrieved they were to return to Ozpin and deliver the relic. Soon after Sky began speaking to Ebony and Greene, holding her chin as if deep in thought.

"It's alright; we can still make this work. All we have to do is make sure that we land in the same location, and we're guaranteed to become team members." Sky's voice was rational, it wasn't as soft and kind as Ebony's but it wasn't as rugged as her weapon would suppose. Being strapped to her back by unknown methods a great sword was not what Greene envisioned for a girl to be wielding. But almost immediately after their strategy was discussed, Ozpin gave a cryptic warning before the platform they were standing on began to move. "Quickly, Ebony, grab this handle, Greene grabs onto this one, make sure you don't fall off before I say so!" Sky shouted out as everyone began scrambling for handles; she managed to direct Ebony and Greene to either side of her so that they could hear her instructions easier. Greene did as she instructed and gripped the handle with all his strength, as the spinning began to spin faster he could hear Sky next to him shout "IT'S A FUCKING MERRY GO ROUND!?" she seemed incredibly frustrated with the new discovery as her face contorted in anger at the man standing peacefully in the center "this isn't going to work, hurry up and get into a position like this" she said as she managed to swing herself around the handle and positioned her feet against it, holding onto another handle above her, as she stood against the force of the spin. Greene nodded towards her before getting into the same position and decided to show off to Ebony. He let go of the handle above him and flexed his arms as if the force of the pull was nothing, Ebony smiled slightly but didn't seem to appreciate the gesture as not even a giggle escaped her lips. Sky seemed to disapprove of the move even more so as a look of disgust reached across her face. Almost immediately after deciding to reach back for the handle above him, his foot slipped and the force pulled him downward with the handle flying straight between his legs. It seemed as if the entire class could see as all he could hear in that instant was an echoing "Ooh" as he slowly slid off the handle and was flung into the air by the rapid spin.

Greene could barely pay attention to his surroundings as he flew through the air; holding his groin in agony. He managed to flare his aura over the afflicted area and immediately began to feel better, managing to turn his head looking around to where he was falling towards a large tree littered in the infamous red leaves of the Forever Fall Forest. He needed to do something to at least slow his landing, otherwise it would take too much of his aura to simply crash into the ground, so he pulled out his large weapon and slid a slight switch along the handle that allowed the hammer end of the pole arm to detach connected by a long chain, he swung it to his side so that as he passed by the tree he would swing like a monkey and slide into the ground, only skidding his aura as opposed to heavily damaging his reserve. After the abrupt and improvised crash landing, Greene stood up, patting off the dirt that had gathered along his body, before yanking the hammer end from the tree, breaking the limbs in its path as it fell to the ground with a thud. Greene observed his surroundings, he was in a thick forest, and every direction was covered in a myriad of brown, green, and red. He decided that sheathing his weapon in a hostile location was not a grand idea so he held onto the handle of his weapon tightly. He couldn't think of which direction to follow so he chose the one that seemed the most uphill, if he could get at least any kind of vantage point, it would be better than standing idly lost in a forest. He pushed some shrubbery away from him and soon heard the sound of a Beowulf Pack leader, It was a distinctive roar, one that he had studied amongst other Grimm vocalizations. He quickly raced towards the sound, hoping that none of his comrades were in any danger, and his mind instantly ran in the one direction he willed it not to. He saw images of Ebony on the ground covered in blood, with a Beowulf standing above her, slowly devouring her, even though he knew better than to imagine the worst, that was all he could manage, after all, he had no way to know if she was even capable of defending herself. He jumped through the last wall of shrubbery and found himself to be in a clearing, he stood stunned at the sight. There she was, Ebony, standing beside a pack of dead Beowolves as she turned around to see the source of the sound, only to find Greene smiling towards her, their eyes locked and Greene knew in that instant that Ebony was his partner. But his happiness was soon eroded as he then noticed that Sky was standing atop the Pack leader, her great sword embedded into its back, nearly splitting it in two. Greene began walking forward towards them, before speaking, one of the longest lines he'd ever spoken "So, Ebony is my partner then?" Sky stared him down angrily and he retreated slightly, her red eyes filled with disgust towards him for reasons he couldn't quite understand, he stopped moving closer, not wanting to get close to the angry Sky, as she then spoke for both of them

"No, Ebony is my partner, after all, we made eye contact first," She said proudly, huffing her chest out to emphasize how she had apparently won before Greene spoke once again

"But she's the first person I made eye contact with, doesn't that mean she's my partner?" for some reason he found himself able to talk, actually talk if it was for defending his position as Ebony's partner, but just as Sky went to retort against him once more Ebony spoke up, stopping the argument before it even began.

"How about I'm both of your partners? After all, Greene did make eye contact with me, so I am his partner, but Sky is also my partner because we made eye contact first… does everybody agree?" she said diligently, explaining the positions everyone held on one another as partners. Greene and Sky seemed to both nod at the same time, but Greene still didn't understand why Sky hated him so much.

"We should go ahead and make our way towards the temple, it shouldn't be far. I managed to send us all in the right direction." Sky stated matter-of-factly, before ripping her sword from the Beowulf and placing it against her side where it seemed to snap into position. Only now that her back was not covered could Greene notice that she had a large metal like plate against her back. Greene figured that it must have been some form of magnetic plating to hold her large weapon; He used similar methods but nothing as large as her own. Greene nodded towards Sky and they all three began walking into the forest, heading towards the temple that was supposedly holding the relics they were in pursuit of. As they journeyed through the forest, trying to remain silent as to not attract Grimm, Greene decided to break the silence, ignoring his normal tendencies for the pleasure of conversation

"So… You're a wolf Faunus?" He questioned Ebony, wanting to hear her voice once more. She was slightly shocked by the sudden question, and who it was coming from, but she couldn't resist correcting him as he seemed interested in her.

"Well, I'm more of a Fox Faunus, but yes, somewhere along those lines" She smiled slightly as her ears perked up at him as he seemed genuinely intrigued by her. They shared a slight smile before Sky cut in

"It doesn't matter _what_ she is, what matters is _who_ she is. I better not find out you're a racist." The fiery eyed girl demanded of him. Acting as though she showed him up she smirked and held her head high as they continued their journey through the forest. They were approaching a small Cliffside when Greene saw Ebony jerk her head around, concerned, Greene reached over and tapped her shoulder. She turned back towards him and he slightly tilted his head towards her with a questioning look, she simply smiled in response

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." Immediately after the reassurance; sky interrupted yet again. She was crouching down against the shrubbery and peering through waving the rest of the group over.

"You think this is it?" They pushed aside the greenery and looked down the small ledge to see blocks of old concrete and stone slabs strewn across the Forest floor, the moss crawling up the structures in strange patterns. Amongst the center of the wreckage stood over a dozen pedestals each with something atop them. At this point, it was clear this was their objective and Sky and Greene began forward when Ebony gripped both of their shoulders and held them back nodding towards the eastern side of the temple. Ebony's Ears flared, roaming side to side as not a moment later had two fellow students emerged from the tree line at a full sprint towards the temple, it didn't take long to find out what they were running from as suddenly a large King Taijitu erupted from its hiding place within the trees, smashing them to the ground as if they were broken fence posts. It hissed towards them as they dashed away from it. They may have been able to outmaneuver the massive creature within the maze of trees but out in the open, it picked up speed. Its body slithered across the ground, holding its head against the floor. It's second head too engrossed in the action of moving to do anything else. "That's a big Grimm; even if all five of us team up we couldn't take it down without attracting more. Should we wait until they pass by?" Sky suggested, quickly analyzing their chances against the large monster, but both Greene and Ebony glared knives into her at the suggestion of leaving two fellow students to die. "I was just joking… sheesh, but seriously, how are we supposed to distract that thing long enough to get them out of there?" Suddenly it clicked in Greene's mind as if a light bulb went off. He snapped his fingers drawing attention to himself on accident. He then smirked and nodded towards them both before suddenly disappearing.

The next thing Greene saw was two students and a giant two headed snake racing straight towards him. He hadn't long to react so he quickly grabbed them both as the snake reared its head up opening its jaws revealing the two large fangs followed by rows of serrated teeth that lined its mouth. Seconds turned to hours as the mouth descended upon the three of them, before without warning the tongue and teeth that would be their doom, turned to a light blue sky framed in red leaves. "What… Just Happened" One of the students Greene was still holding managed to breathe out of his raspy gasps for air. Before the all too familiar tone of Sky's voice rang through all three of their ears.

"Teleportation huh? That's a pretty useful semblance." Greene finally managed to release the other two students and they all three fell to a seating position both exhausted and traumatized by the event that just took place.

"Dude, you saved us, man. We'd be goners if you hadn't shown up. I don't even know what to say…" The other boy spoke finally, seems to have regained his understanding of the situation. Greene managed to gingerly scratch the back of his head embarrassed by the praise smiling slightly more out of politeness than anything else. The moment was once again ruined by Sky's imperfect timing as she broke the happy silence that the five had been enjoying.

"Ok, so that thing is now guarding the temple, it knows we're still close by. It's older than other Grimm, based on its size, so it's more intelligent. We need a way of getting in, grabbing the relics, and getting out. All without it noticing us there at all…" With the strategy announced all eyes made their way to Greene who was first looking around at all of them not understanding until it finally clicked in his head what they were suggesting. He let out a heavy sigh as he knew he'd be their errand boy for who knew how long. He nodded towards them and everyone grinned knowing that their plan was under way. They all gathered near the edge, watching out as the Giant Grimm circled the temple, both of its heads roaming back and forth searching for food. Greene positioned himself near the cliff and got ready, but right before he activated his semblance Sky broke the silence once more at just the wrong time yet again. "Oh before you go, I need you to do something… Don't just grab random ones, you'll need three so go down there, look around, come back and tell me what you see, got it?" she explained his plan and he nodded, mentally preparing himself once more, he gripped the grass by his feet as he sat in a knelt position and closed his eyes as Sky's voice broke the quiet veil once more. "Oh and don't be seen by the Taijitu… That'd be bad." He released a deep sigh and glared back at her "What? Just trying to help" He could see Ebony stifling a giggle as she lightly slapped Sky in the arm to make her stop interrupting him. He shook his head, annoyed by the situation and turned back towards the temple. He waited until the first head passed by the right wall. He would only have as long as it would take for the second head to come around the left wall to get out of sight once again. His vision changed in an instant, from the birds eye view of the temple to a first person view of the interior as he stumbled slightly getting used to the sudden change in orientation. He shook it off and began studying the relics. Only to realize that they were all toys… Greene squinted his brows in confusion as he looked at the next and the next, each one was a toy, they were all action figures of Grimm, there were Alpha and Beta versions of each, and there were dozens of different kinds of Grimm action figures. Almost forgetting about his time restriction due to the surprise relics he noticed the slivering body beginning to thin as it neared the second head, he quickly looked back up towards the cliff face, just now noticing that it was actually a fair bit high. He suddenly no longer saw the cliff, as he looked around he saw the questioning faces of his new allies as they awaited his discoveries. "Well?"

"They're toys…" Two words were all it took for the four of them to glance back and forth between one another not understanding what he meant "Grimm figurines…" Greene managed to finish his report, Sky taking the thought into consideration; before replying to him in a genuine tone.

"Greene, when you go back, try to grab a Beta Creep, and Both the Alpha and Beta Beowolves… got that? Don't touch anything else, but make sure that you get all three of those" She directed him with a serious tone, the first time she had done so within his presence, and it actually scared him to think what would happen if he didn't comply with her wishes. Greene lightly swallowed and nodded as he turned back around, watching the Taijitu pass by the temple once more. Given the perfect opportunity once again Greene appeared in the center of the temple, He quickly searched the nearby pillars looking around not able to find either of the creeps or the pair of Beowolves.

"Ursa…Deathstalker…Nevermore…Cheshire…. Ah!" as he listed them off he finally found the Alpha Beowulf. But like the rest of them the Beta was somewhere else amongst the large group, so he continued to follow the rows of semi-circle podiums searching for the remaining two. He turned around to check to see how long he had left, He watched as the black of the front half faded into the white of the second half of the Grimm. Knowing he didn't have long he decided to frantically search, briskly walking through the isles until eventually, he found both the Beta Grimm he was searching for only two apart from one another. He quickly grabbed both and turned towards the cliff; a victorious grin appeared and disappeared in an instant. When he had turned to face the cliff all he could see were the glowing red eyes of the white Head staring him down from the entrance of the temple. For what seemed like an eternity neither of them moved. Until Greene slowly pocketed the other two relics into his pack as well as the first. But the moment he drew a breath of air the Taijitu burst into a hellish screech. The cry of anger piercing his body and shook his very blood as he was barely able to comprehend what was happening. He snapped out of it a moment too late as suddenly the black head burst through the back of the temple and attacked towards him. Only his semblance saved his life in that instant as he appeared a dozen feet away from the Grimm in the open outside of the temple. It didn't take long for the Grimm to understand the situation as both heads burst through the roof of the building and searched both sides of the temple for him; only for the white head to switch its attention to the opposite side when the black head had found him. Greene quickly broke into a sprint, trying to get away from the Grimm, but not wanting to waste his aura by overusing his semblance. The Giant serpent burst through the stone walls of the temple as its scales shimmered in the bright sun while it slithered across the ground after Greene. Its reptilian body crashing through the dirt and soil as it slithered closer to the barely escaping Young man. Greene could barely keep himself out of its mouth as he approached the cliff side. He reached a dead end and didn't have very many options, his semblance wouldn't work in such a rushed situation without being able to concentrate and with the alpha head staring him down, his back against the wall, and seemingly no hope, he couldn't manage to concentrate.

Suddenly without warning a bright flash erupted above him as a large beam of energy spewed forward over him and crashed into the alpha head. The impact forced the Grimm back and broke through a section of its scales along its face, revealing the tender flesh underneath. The moments that followed went by like hours as Greene stood in shock, watching as the giant Grimm retreated for the moment treating to its injuries as Sky and Ebony both came sliding down the cliff, trying to get Greene to use his semblance to scale back up it. Gripping his shoulders firmly Sky stared into his eyes and shook him shouting as he managed to snap out of it. Looking back finally she restarted so that he could hear her "Your semblance better be able to transport us as well or else I'm never forgiving you in hell." Greene realized what she meant as he nodded and looked back up to the top of the cliff, and held his hands out behind him, both Sky and Ebony gripped one each and they all three suddenly appeared at the top once more. Once they reappeared Greene looked around just to make sure of his surroundings and that the two girls were still with him. After all three of them shared a couple glances around confirming their situation Sky ripped her hand from Greene's and proceeded to pull Ebony away from him as well. Ensuring that he didn't spend any additional time with her than necessary. "Well, now that we got all _that_ under control… Greene, did you manage to get the right relics before you pissed the thing off?" she talked down to him as if he was a child that had managed to ruin her day. He reluctantly nodded to her, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of him not being capable of the task. He reached around and pulled all three of the figures out. Sky grabbed the Beta Beowulf and placed it into her own pack, before tossing the Creep to the two students that were saved from the Grimm, not wanting to force them to reattempt to claim their own relics again. "Keep the Alpha one, We'll give it to whoever manages to make the cut in our team." Greene nodded once again pocketing the Grimm toy.

Suddenly a Cry erupted through the air, shattering the false sense of security they all felt, they turned their attention back towards the massive serpentine Grimm. It may have been hurt by whatever had hit it before, but it was nowhere near out of commission. The White Beta head charged forward, leading and letting the Alpha follow as it was injured. They knew it couldn't climb the cliff; not quickly at least. But they didn't want to wait to find out how long it would take. Greene, Sky, and Ebony all waved back towards the other two students as they ran their separate ways, not wanting to create complications with a large group. They quickly entered a clearing. Luckily for them It only had a single Grimm, unluckily for them, it was an Ursa Major. The much deadlier and stronger version of the common Bear Grimm; Greene and Ebony both reached for their weapons prepared to attack as Sky sprinted past them as if determined to showcase her own skill "I got this one, make sure nothing else gets close!" as she instructed them Greene took to the left side of the field and Ebony to the right, they both ran along the tree line trying to see if any other Grimm were nearby, to prevent them from jumping out at Sky. Sky approached the large Bear as it reared up onto its hind legs reaching its arm back preparing to strike, but in the same instant Sky slid to a halt in front of it, twisting her body as she grabbed the massive sword firmly attached to her side. Suddenly flame erupted from the side of the blade rocketing it away from her body in a swinging motion as it slammed into the Grimm's body, slicing through its arm and into its head forcing the Grimm to the ground in one fell swoop. As Sky stood there atop the dead Ursa Greene finally noticed that the entire Great Sword was lined with holes and chambers, which he now understood to be rocket propellers, allowing her to swing the massive sword with great speed and force in any direction. Just as that realization came across him the shrubbery across from Sky began to ruffle all three of them gripped their weapons, only for another student to emerge from the tree line. He had white hair and deep blue eyes. He wore a black leather jacket and pants, with a white button up shirt underneath and a blue T-shirt underneath that. He had sneaker shoes on, the kind that most wouldn't bring into combat or forestry due to them being more comfortable than practical. He also had gloves on that barely covered his wrists. It was only when the boy turned towards Greene had he finally noticed that he had a pair of white cat-like ears atop his head. The discovery of their new ally was short lived as all of a sudden they all heard a loud hiss. The trees behind the three of them bursting open revealing the King Taijitu from before; It seemed to have managed to climb the cliff and still chased after them in hopes of finishing it's meal. All three of them quickly sprinted towards the new student. Greene suddenly felt as if he was to be their new member and so he quickly brought out the Relic; tossing it to Sky as if telling her to make the decision if they were to introduce him to the team or not. He was pleased to see that she tossed the relic right back to their new team-mate and all four of them grinned together as they raced away from the enraged Basilisk Grimm.

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 _Authors notes: This was definitely the longest chapter thus far, and yet Friday's chapter is going to be even longer. it's ok though, after this the chapters start evening out and no longer include such huge story, although. If this is what you guys like and want I can try to keep it larger, nothing as big as 9,000 words though lol. So just tell me how you guys feel_


	5. Chapter 4

_Authors Notes: Hey guys, last chapter, and this chapter are the longest chapters in this series so far. Although I don't want to make them this big often, I will make them larger if you guys want me to. So make sure to leave a review and tell me if you guys like the longer chapters. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do the whole 9,000 words per chapter, but I may be able to make them closer to 5,000 which is still larger than the prologue… anyway, now it's time to check out the final perspective of the initiation. LET IT BEGIN._

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Chapter 4

"-up… It's time to wake up, come on." A voice called out from inside the muffled outside world. She couldn't quite recognize the voice and didn't want to try if it was telling her to wake up. She crimped her face in anger against the voice as the light began searing into her eyes; bringing her blanket over her face to combat the bright room and attempt to remain in the comfort of her dreams.

"Go away" She spoke out, demanding that the intruder to her peace leave. But rather that leave it continued to intrude on her slumber. The blanket that had protected her from the bright light was suddenly ripped away from her; allowing the light to break through her weakly set up defenses. She brought her hands up to cover her face and more importantly her eyes as she groaned in annoyance as the voice returned once more.

"C'mon sis, mommy says it's time to wake up." She eventually escaped the hold her dreams held on her as she began to blink her eyes open. Her mind returning to her she was able to recognize the voice to be her younger brother, standing at her bed-side eagerly trying to wake her up to please his mother. It took several more minuets for her to actually come to terms with the end of her peace. She managed to sit up on the side of the twin sized bed and rub her right eye tiredly. She reached her arms up and let out a long yawn that seemed to wake her up more than she would have liked. She looked over at her brother who was still in the room making sure she wouldn't return to sleep the moment he left. He was only seven years old and he hadn't quite developed any defining features yet. In her mind he looked almost identical to any other kid; of course, she would be able to pick him out in a heartbeat. He had short brown hair that barely seemed to come down to his ears. He had similar eyes to her own, he was a slightly lighter shade of red though; he was wearing his favorite green T and brown shorts. "Are you up?" he questioned her as he still held the blanket firmly in his grasp making sure she wouldn't snatch it away from him, not like she would have much trouble doing so. She managed to nod her head, keeping her eyes closed to block out the still too bright light that filled the room.

"Yeah, yeah… I'm up. Go tell mom I'll be down in ten minuets." She couldn't see him but she knew that he had smiled and nodded back to her before running out the room as the energetic kid that he was. She yawned once more before she stood up and walked to her dresser. She quickly decided to wear a cute lounge outfit; she wasn't doing anything important today so she was planning on walking around town and getting some groceries. She brought the clothes to the bathroom before taking a quick shower, making sure to take special care for her hair to ensure that it wouldn't fray like her mothers would. In lots of ways she took after her mother, she had the same blue hair, the same physique, and even the same dark red eyes that seemed to run in her family. But as far as her personality went she couldn't be farther from her mother. She took after her father in only a few ways; most noticeably her nose and her ears. But she mostly took after her father with her personality; she always prioritized intelligence and planned out strategies rather than gut feelings and instincts. After some thinking alone in the shower about herself and her family she emerged from the steam filled room wearing her casual outfit. She made her way downstairs and walked into the dinning room where her mother and brother sat at the table. Her father was already walking away from the kitchen counter grabbing his mug and kissing her mother before walking towards the door to Sky's back. He looked towards her and smiled before she spoke up. "Sorry, would've preferred to spend breakfast with you as well but I seem to have overslept again." She quickly apologized about her tardy arrival and her father simply nodded, acknowledging the situation, but not holding it against her.

"I'll see you when I get home, make sure to get some bread while you're out today alright?" Sky nodded to her father as he grabbed his hat placing it firmly onto his head and gripping the handle to the front door, giving one last look back at his son and daughter before smiling and closing the door behind him. Sky moved away from the hallway and sat down across from her mother and next to her brother at the small square table. Picking up the fork next to her plate her mother began to speak addressing her in a calm and soft voice

"I'm assuming you slept well? Wouldn't want you to start having nightmares before something so important." Her mother had always been one to jump right to the point, not wanting to waste time with formalities. Sky nodded as she swallowed a small bite of her scrambled eggs.

"Yeah, I don't really remember what about though. Hey Tin, what did you dream about?" She looked over to her brother who was playing with his strips of bacon, acting as if they were swords and swinging them at each other aggressively. He quickly perked up at the sound of his name and dropped his hands to his seat and looked up thinking.

"Uhhhhh, I dreamed about this big scary bad guy, but then when I got scared you showed up, and you and daddy and mommy all beat him up and then we all got to eat pancakes in the castle" Tin tried to explain his crazy childish dream as Sky and her mother exchanged glances trying to hold back their laughter.

"Well, how about when I become a huntress I find that big scary monster and make sure to beat him up for you; does that sound like a plan?" Tin beamed with joy as he nodded his head rapidly

"And then can we eat pancakes in the castle? Just like in my dream?" Sky smiled sweetly towards him and rubbed his scalp before responding

"I'll make them myself, but first you've got to get ready, you've got a big day at the doctor's today, so make sure to eat up so you can beat up all those germs ok?" Sky made sure to play with his enthusiasm. He easily took the bait turning his attention back on his breakfast he quickly devoured it. Sky and her family finished breakfast without much more conversation and only an hour passed before her mother and brother were getting dressed to go out for the day. Sky was sitting on the couch holding a pillow between her legs as she sat cross legged. Holding her scroll just on the other side of the pillow, as she rests her head on the top of it for support. She wasn't watching anything important, just whatever random entertainment that she could find. But her mother walking to the door drew her attention away from the video. "Are you going out? You still have a little while before his check-up" Her mother was grabbing her coat from the coat-rack as she responded.

"Yeah, I kind of just want to go to the park with Tin, besides, his summer hasn't been all too exciting, maybe he'll make some friends before school starts." Her mother did make a fair point. For the most part, Tin played in their living room. Their apartment was small, and nothing super fancy. It had a total of three bedrooms upstairs and one big room downstairs that acted as both the kitchen and the living room, only a large wall in the middle separating them, with two paths on either side of the wall leading to either of the rooms. The stairway to the upstairs was next to the front door, which both sat in the living room. The small household was filled with odds and ends, but the furniture seemed to have a common theme of one of each kind. They only had one table and one couch, one chair and one TV. They each had one bed, but that was really the only thing other than dining chairs that they had multiple of. Most of the time when they went to watch a movie together they would have to bring in an extra chair or two to fit everyone. Depending if their aunt was in town or not.

"Ok, dad told me to get some bread; do you need anything while I'm out?" Sky asked her mother, making sure that she wouldn't need anything later and not have it. But her mother simply shook her head, smiling back at Sky before responding.

"No, I don't think so; if we end up needing anything we can always just go and get it. It's not the end of the world if we run out of milk for a day." She joked with Sky. Sky nodded before waving her mother and brother off for the day and then returning to her leisurely time alone. After several hours of boredom online she looked up at the time. Noticing that it was already almost 6 in the afternoon she got up from the couch and decided to head out. She didn't really have a plan for the day which bugged her, but she decided yesterday that she wouldn't make one no matter what, and would simply go with her gut for once. So far she had done just that, not planning on doing anything meant that she spent most of her day watching random videos and surfing the internet. As she left her apartment room and walked down the long hallway. Normally she would have taken the stairs but she was feeling extra lazy today, and because she wanted to trust her gut, she took the elevator. Living on the second floor meant that it wasn't much of a ride to the lobby below her. It wasn't long until she was out in the town; she had no idea what she wanted to do so she quickly decided to head west. Cars and people buzzed around the street during the day; she looked around trying to find anything interesting. Suddenly she came across a pet store around the corner it was the only thing she noticed that seemed fun so she made her trip to it. Walking inside the store a wave of cold air rushed over her, and although it was refreshing it also carried the odor of the animals inside the store. It wasn't enough to make some one gag, but she couldn't see anyone that would find the smell pleasing. The inside of the store was covered in a blue color. From the white and blue tiles to the orange and blue walls it had a very cozy and comfortable feeling to it. She walked up to the front counter, behind it stood a fairly old looking man, he was tan in color and had dull horns sprouting from his forehead. _"A Bull Faunus? Or maybe a Ram? Guess it doesn't matter"_ She quickly thought to herself before speaking aloud for the man to hear.

"Hi, I'm not looking to buy, but am I allowed to browse and pet the animals?" The man seemed disappointed in her as she spoke of not wanting to purchase anything but he reluctantly nodded allowing her to walk past him towards the large cage of dogs. "Hi guys!" she called out in a higher pitched baby voice used to excite the young puppies. All the dogs fought for her attention as they all clamored together against the cage pushing one another out of the way. She quickly picked up the white and brown spotted dog and giggled lightly as it began licking her relentlessly. She spent probably around twenty minuets browsing the animals, only not cuddling with the reptiles and birds. She began walking out the store but waved back at the man "Thanks for letting me visit." With the thanks in order she headed off yet again in a random direction, looking down at her scroll she noticed that it was already near 8. She decided that it was probably better to not spend all night out and so she began to head towards the closest shop. Wanting to buy the bread and head home, doing anything that she felt like doing on the way home. The second store she entered the day held a very commercial feeling to it. It was covered in white tiles and white walls; the room was filled with rows of isles. It wasn't a large store and it didn't seem all that popular. She quickly made her way to the fourth isle and picked out the bread that her family would normally buy and grabbed two bags. She began to make her way to the front, when she got a message on her scroll. She looked down as she walked, reading the message in her head. _"Hey, just got out of the doctors office, Tim seems fine, so his medicine seems to be working. The doctor says that he has a lot more aura than most, that and how fixated he is with Grimm he may just become a hunter like you. I'm so proud of who both of you are becoming, love, Mom"_ At this point Sky had already placed the two loafs of bread on the counter looking down at her scroll smiling as she re-read the last portion of the message; when a voice then broke the happy moment.

"Would you like plastic or paper?" Sky had yet to look up but her nerves were shot when she heard the voice. It was soft and kind, holding a hint of sweetness behind the generic question obviously drilled into her. Sky looked up and met the eyes of a brilliantly gorgeous Faunus. She had caramel skin and long luscious purple hair, she may have been wearing a common employee outfit but somehow it seemed special on her. Sky couldn't seem to bring herself to break the silence, as they both just stared at each other waiting for the other to speak. Her red eyes stared into the cashiers' golden amber eyes. Only escaping the lock momentarily to look up at the movement above her head; they were Fox ears, adorable fox ears that rested above her and twitched at the air conditioning that blew the wind onto the both of them. She was easily the prettiest girl Sky had ever seen. And that was not even mentioning the girls' Physique. She had a fairly slender body, her arms seemed to stretch the uniform more than usual, that and how slim she was it was obvious the girl worked out. Her body was amazing in more ways than one, and even from the short sentence, she heard before she already knew that her voice was beautiful. Sky couldn't muster a word as she stood there gripping her scroll tighter by the second, her mouth hanging open slightly as her mind raced. Her aura flared in her nervous tension; she could hear her thoughts rambling as she managed to get a hold of herself enough to speak.

"U-uh... Plastic…" The girl quickly brought the two loafs of bread behind the counter, sliding them over the scanner and placing them neatly in the bag so that they wouldn't get smashed before pressing another button in front of her and reading out the total.

"That'll be eleven sixty-five" She looked up from the register, her amber eyes once again meeting her own ruby eyes. For a brief moment, Sky had forgotten entirely that she was at a convenience store until the woman behind the counter furrowed her brows breaking her out of her own awkward thoughts "Are you alright? You seem a bit shaken"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, it was how much again?" Sky quickly tried to play off the silence as if it hadn't happened; the lady once again looking back at the register to confirm the price.

"Eleven sixty-five" She answered soon after she returned her gaze to Sky, smiling robotically, obviously not aware of the mental stress Sky is experiencing.

"Right, uh, just a moment." Sky briskly brought out her wallet and grabbing two ten Lien notes. Handing the notes to her she returned her wallet to her pocket as the cashier exchanged the lien for smaller notes. Handing them back Sky had to rush to bring her wallet back out again, her nerves making her foolishly pocket it too early.

"Here you are ma'am, can I help you with anything else?" Sky struggled to put the lien in their corresponding pockets as she had her wallet organized. So instead she finally managed to cram them all in one pocket and shove her wallet back into her pocket.

"U-uh, no… I uh… I don't think so." Sky's mind still racing and unable to fully process the situation she instinctively grabbed the bags and turned to the side as the next customer began to walk forward.

"Have a good night ma'am" At that final sentence Sky managed to break free from her trance of nervousness. She realized her situation and immediately jumped back in front of the counter making the next customer stumble back and the cashier jump slightly.

"A-Actually there is something… My mom is always telling me to seize the moment. So uh… would you uh… would you like to hang out? With me... later… in town heh heh…" She finished meekly as her mind told her to clarify when she seemed to just make it worse for herself her mind racing with ideas of being together with the girl as her aura flared instinctively as she felt her Semblance active; not fully understanding that it was. The girl seemed taken aback for a moment before tilting her head slightly and smiling.

"What? Like a date?"

Sky just stared back at her for a moment _"AAAAAAAHHHH"_ she gulped lightly and replied quickly, waving her arms in front of her defensively

"No no no no no… j-just as friends, I mean obviously." Sky scratched her cheek slightly trying to sound as if that wasn't her intention. The girl behind the counter giggled lightly and finally smiled genuinely. Sky fell for that smile the moment she saw it. Sky knew at that instant that she would try to make her smile like that once again.

"Sure, I'd love to get out of my house more often." Sky's anticipation and nerves eroded after hearing those words, they weren't gone entirely but they no longer controlled her thoughts, and she was finally able to get her semblance to stop. Sky smiled in response and she brought up her scroll, and indicated that the girl behind the counter to do the same. The girl then followed her lead bringing up her own scroll. It was an employee given scroll based on the insignia on the back. It wasn't uncommon for Faunus to have to resort to those kinds of scrolls. Sky brought her own scroll up to the back of the cashier's and transferred each other's contact information to each other "I didn't know you could do that" Sky smiled shyly and scratched her cheek lightly

"Yeah… It's a little trick I found out a little while back, I don't know why it's not well known" They both grinned at one another before Sky realized she was holding the line up, and walked towards the exit. Once Sky was outside she immediately sat down on the bench that sat right beside the door. She set the bread beside her and held her hands on her knees staring with wide eyes forward. Eventually she brought both her hands up to her head and made an explosion hand sign accompanied with the sound effect as she leaned back against the wall. She brought her scroll up and looked at the time 9:30, it wasn't too late where she would get into trouble, but it certainly wasn't the middle of the day anymore. Sitting there Sky was about to get up and go home, standing up and grabbing her bag before looking back. When she looked back she saw something that would change that night entirely; the store closing hours. Apparently the store would close around 9 pm so if Sky would be here by then she could catch the cashier as she left to go home; that was the plan at least. Nodding to herself confirming the idea she sat back down onto the bench and brought out her scroll. Typing a message to her mother while reading it in her head to confirm that it was what she meant to say and that the auto-correct feature wouldn't mess it up. _"Hey mom, I'm going to be a bit late home today, I know I usually come home a lot earlier but I'm following my gut on this one. I'll see you when I get home, Love you."_

After having sent the message Sky looked up at the time, noticing that only three minutes had passed by time she had left the store and now. _"It's going to be a long night"_ , She thought to herself as she began surfing the internet trying to pass the time, waiting for the cashier to get off the clock. Suddenly the beeping sound of a game's music woke her up. _"Huh? Wasn't I just playing this?"_ She quickly thought to herself as she then realized that she had accidentally dozed off whilst waiting on the bench. Noticing that the emergency could have ruined everything she frantically looked up at the time. Only 9:55 it wasn't long but it was much longer than she would have liked to have fallen asleep. At this point Sky knew that she needed something to keep herself awake. Normally she would just walk back inside the store she was waiting outside of and buy something caffeinated. Today however that wasn't an option, she wanted to make it a surprise that she was waiting, although admittedly the more she thought about it the gesture just seemed to become creepier and creepier. Sky stood once again and walked towards a nearby store just across the street; only needing something to keep her awake. Upon entering the store she noticed that it was almost identical to the store where the cashier worked, similar colors and similar layout. She easily made her way to the back and found that they had several different flavors of ice-coffee on sale, normally she disliked the taste of coffee, but in this circumstance it couldn't be helped. As she purchased the coffee giving the man behind the counter a kind nod of appreciation, she couldn't help but think again how weird and creepy the gesture truly was. Waiting outside of a store for a person you only just met, and making absolutely sure that you could be fully awake when they finally got off? Creepy. Still Sky couldn't help herself as she decided earlier that day to give her gut instincts the full attention they deserved alongside her meticulous planning. She sat down on the bench on the opposite side of the door than the one she had sat on before, she twisted open the lid to the coffee taking a sip and immediately regretting it. She knew it had to be done though so she would force her self to gulp the black fluid down every minute or so. She checked the time once she had finished the coffee and realized that it was already nearing 11. Sky grinned in excitement and continued to scroll through the internet on her scroll to pass the time. After several complete games of "Betris" the falling block game, her alarm went off. Vibrating in her hand she noticed that it was finally 11, or rather it was 11:10 as she expected that it would take some time to close down the store. She quickly ran over to the trash can and threw away the iced coffee bottle and sat back down on the bench next to the door. She used her scrolls camera function to check her appearance and quickly made some slight adjustments to her short blue hair. Making sure that her hair wasn't all over the place before she perked up waiting for the door to open.

After a couple of minutes of waiting she checked her scroll again, the time reading 11:17 she almost began to give up hope as she knew the store was closed by now, the lights had gone off long ago but still, no one emerged from the door. Sky stood up and walked up to the door, and leaned against the glass peering inside just as the door next to her opened up. Sky jumped back startled as the door swung open; on the other side of the door, however, was the cashier from earlier. She was wearing something different, however, instead of her work uniform, she was now wearing a loose tank-top that was tilted over her chest to reveal a shoulder, her pants where tight white jeans and her hair seemed even longer than it was before as if it was braided earlier. A moment after she had exited the building she finally noticed Sky's presence and almost jumped in surprise as well. She tilted her head slightly and smiled as she questioned Sky.

"What are you doing here? It's really late." Sky just stood there gawking at her outfit that managed to make her look even more stunning than before. "Are you ok? You keep drifting off into your own little bubble" Sky quickly snapped out of it and frantically tried to find something to say, anything to say; but her mind just came up completely blank. It had been her intention to ask to walk her home for the night but the moment her lips started moving they betrayed her.

"I was thinking that you could walk me home tonight. Since it's so late" Sky almost immediately froze in place at her own stupidity _"WHAT AM I SAYING?!"_ She nearly slapped herself in the forehead after realizing what she had said. Perhaps it was better this way however as the girl brought her hand up to curl a finger over her mouth as she stifled a light laugh. Before gaining composure to answer Sky.

"Although unorthodox, I would gladly walk you home, assuming you don't live in the middle of nowhere." She joked with her but still, the acceptance was more than enough to break Sky from her spell of nerves that arose once again after seeing her. Sky beamed happily at the cashier and turned to lead her to her home. "By the way, I never got your name." Sky perked up slightly and scratched her cheek looking to the side before responding.

"Well then let's trade… names at least." Sky offered her proposal so that they would become acquainted with one another as they walked. The cashier seemed to like the idea and smiled.

"My name is Ebony, Ebony Myogi," Ebony answered. Her name fit, it was a name that fell off the tongue and brought flavor to the voice who spoke it. It surprised her how much a name could change someone's appearance. And yet just knowing that her name wasn't "Cashier" seemed to make her twice as attractive and real.

"Nice to meet you, Ebony… I'm Sky Rictoshouwa" Sky smiled gleefully towards Ebony and Ebony took it as an official introduction so Ebony held out her hand towards Sky.

"Very nice to make your acquaintance Sky" Sky stared at her hand for a moment before slowly bringing her own up to greet it. Ebony took her chance and gripped Sky's hand softly with her own. Sky noticed that their hands together felt like plush meeting silk as if they were competing for the fairest skin. Sky still held onto Ebony's hand long after the initial shake and Ebony began raising an eyebrow as they continued to hold hands. Ebony was just about to speak when Sky finally released her grip on Ebony; managing to notice the unusual situation she was causing. She returned her hand to her side and began walking ahead of Ebony, not wanting her to see the growing heat along her cheeks. Not long after they began walking had a silence fell between them. It was near 11:30 at night and they were nearly alone on the streets only an uncommon car or biker filling the need for movement for a brief moment. Sky couldn't help herself but stare at Ebony, although she tried to keep reminding herself, each time she looked away she felt the sudden urge to glance back to her side and observe the gentle structure of Ebony's face, and the way her eyes seemed to glow in the dark as they passed from street-lamp to street-lamp. Sky decided that the silence was too much to bear and broke it with the first question that came to mind.

"So… Do you like working as a cashier?" Ebony was startled at her voice but quickly replied, as if making conversation was natural to her.

"Well it's not the worst job in the world, plus it helps pay the way to Beacon." Sky stopped in her tracks and Ebony walked for two more steps before turning around.

"You're a Huntress?!" Sky shouted in response to the sudden information, the outburst would have caused a scene if there was anyone else in the area. Instead of a scene, it caused Ebony to begin to giggle uncontrollably. The laughter causing Sky to pout in response as her cheeks began to redden slightly. Once Ebony regained control she wiped her eye slightly before responding.

"Yes, I'm a Huntress… well, Huntress-in-training… sorry, I guess I should have told you that right away; do you want to know more about me and what it's like being a Huntress. Or should we talk about you? I am interested in learning about my new friend." She spoke softly and elaborately explaining the situation to her. But Sky could only smirk in response as suddenly Ebony stiffed slightly as if something unexpected happened

" _Trust me, I know what the life of a Huntress-in-training is like, and I'd rather talk about you. I don't like to talk about myself that much."_ Ebony seemed speechless as she just blinked a couple times before responding with a wide grin.

"You're a Huntress too? Now I don't feel so bad about not telling you… So is that your semblance?" Without moving her lips at all a voice called out within Ebony's mind answering her

" _Yeah, my semblance is known as 'Telepathy' basically I can convey thoughts and moods as well as read them."_ Ebony tilted her head and raised her eyebrows in suspicion.

"Oh? So have you been reading my mind then?" She accused Sky of using her semblance secretly but Sky frantically waved her hands in response turning off her semblance to blubber in person.

"No, no, no, no, I would never do that without permission first. Well, I would, but only if I needed to… I mean only if I really needed to, like if I needed to know something… I mea-"

"It's ok, I was just teasing you… besides, I don't have anything to hide anyway… I know I can't hope for the same from you but I do hope I can." Ebony smiled genuinely, that cursed smile; every time she saw it, it made her unable to think momentarily. After a few seconds of her mind being blank she was able to speak once again, walking up next to Ebony as they resumed their walk.

"Of course, after all, my entire entire semblance is about conveying my inner most thoughts, so why would I ever want to hide something from you?" Ebony walked beside her and they continued to walk now that the ice was broken between them it was much easier to converse. "So you know my semblance… Have you discovered yours yet?" Ebony seemed embarrassed by the question as she looked to her side slightly and her ears lowered against her head.

"Well… I have, but it's weird like I can't use it… I know how to, and I know what it is… but it's like there's a wall up." Sky leaned in slightly as she was interested in the new information given to her.

"Do you not want to talk about it?" Sky asked hoping that she would want to, but she would respect the decision either way. Ebony glanced back smiling lightly as the mood was dampened.

"Honestly I'd rather not. It's nothing against you; I just don't like to think about it." Sky nodded, she could understand why she wouldn't want to talk about it, after all, Semblances were the foundation to a powerful Hunter or Huntress, and not being able to use it would be catastrophic.

"It's ok, I don't want to cause you any trouble and force you to go through anything…" Sky smiled and Ebony smiled softly in response.

"So… I assume you're going to Beacon as well?" Sky nodded before eagerly answering.

"Yeah, I can hardly wait; I'm not normally the energetic type. But I love the battlefield" Sky spoke with enthusiasm as she held her fists out in front of her excitedly. Ebony grinned.

"Well I'm not in it for the thrill of it as much as I am for doing the good thing… As a Faunus, most don't really appreciate or accept us, but if I was a Huntress I could help people in huge ways. Plus a huntress pays better than a cashier" They both giggled lightly as they turned a corner. Sky stopped abruptly and turned to the side facing a house.

"I would really love to continue to talk to you, but sadly this is my house." Ebony nodded slightly before looking back her questionably.

"Wait, I initially thought you were just scared of walking home alone… but if you're a huntress…" Sky's eyes widened slightly as she realized her improvised plan started to fall apart, a shit-eating grin began to appear on Ebony's face as Sky's cheeks grew crimson in embarrassment. "So, why did you ask me to walk you home?" Sky looked down lightly scratching her chin.

"Well, h-honestly, I wanted to walk _you_ home, but when I asked if I could I kinda mixed things around, and well, here we are." She lightly chuckled nervously to try and cover her embarrassment. Ebony lightly giggled again.

"Well either way it was a lovely walk, I'd enjoy going on another one. I can already see us becoming great friends" The last word struck Sky hard she felt like a dagger was driven through her gut. What she hoped would secure her in a position for a relationship, had immediately placed her in the friendzone.

"Y-yea, we'll be great friends. Anyway, I should get inside, it's pretty late." She walked over towards her apartment. It wasn't large, but it was fairly big, being ten stories tall. It was plain in design; you could probably find a dozen others just like it in town.

"Oh, ok, goodnight Sky" Ebony called out as she began walking back up the street.

"Goodnight Ebony. I'll see you at Beacon" She called back to Ebony waving as they both separated. Sky walked into her apartment and quickly placed her wallet on the counter, walking over to the couch and plopping face down onto the couch, groaning softly into the furniture. A light turned on in the room next-door as a voice called out from the newly lit room.

"Sky? Is that you? It's so late." Sky simply groaned loudly in response to her mothers call. Her mother entered the room not long after; shaking her lightly on the shoulder. "Sky c'mon, go to your bed to sleep. You look like you had a long day" Sky sat up and sighed deeply before standing.

"I'm fine, today just didn't go as expected." Sky began to mope towards the stairs before her mother caught her attention yet again.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Sky turned around with a puzzled look on her face.

"What? How is that a good thing?" Her mother took a moment to think before responding.

"Well the way I see it, no matter what happens, as long as you get something out of it, whether it's a new experience, some new wisdom, or some kind of prize. I count the day as a success." Her mother smiled before asking a final question that would ring through her mind the rest of the night. "So? Did you get something out of it?" After the question both Sky and her mother went to their separate rooms for night, the thought of whether or not she got something from the day lingered in her mind. Softly and quietly she fell asleep with the thought of Ebony in her final thoughts.

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 _Authors Notes: Ok, so sorry, But I decided that because this perspective is the longest, that I might as well split it up. So next chapter you'll finally get to see Sky's perspective on the initiation. Again, sorry for taking so long to get through it all._


	6. Chapter 5

_Author's Notes: Sorry about this chapter being late, work has been pretty hectic, anyway. I'm happy to announce that this chapter is the final chapter in the recap series, after this you'll be completely caught up and can view the story from all the characters perspectives whilst the story progresses; anyway ONTO THE CHAPTER._

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Chapter 5

Light poured into her eyes as they fluttered open, the sweet smell of breakfast filling her nose. She turned her head to the side to view the clock on the wall, seven in the morning. She slowly rose off the bed rubbing her eyes lightly as suddenly a light pressure broke the peace.

A light tap hit against her shoulder, and she turned towards the source to find Maron; he was only eight so he hadn't quite developed his horns fully. He had light brown skin and hair to match; he had blue eyes and was still wearing his pajamas. "Morning Mommy, Sissy is already making breakfast." She stood at the side of the bed stretching her arms out releasing a groan mixed with a yawn that didn't seem very ladylike. Maron raced out the door and turned the corner into the living room, the small corridor not giving him much of a chance to let out his child like energy. She quickly scanned the room, her mind still not having fully awakened, she saw the two bunk beds empty and left in shambles as the kids all raced to eat breakfast. She walked into the small hallway and turned the sharp corner to view the entirety of their apartment. It was tiny and shouldn't be able to fit all five of them, after all, it was only one living room a bathroom and a single bedroom. As she entered the living room she saw the three youngest already sitting at the table holding their plastic cutlery awaiting the food. Her mind lazed from sleep she was barely able to make out her own three children. At the end of the table sat Maron, still shifting in his seat getting comfortable with the hardwood, the two sitting next to each other were the twins Lapis and Lazu. Lapis was wearing her dark blonde hair up in a ponytail and was wearing Lazu's favorite outfit. Lazu was wearing her light blonde hair up in pigtails the tails coming from beside her small mouse like ears that rested atop her head; she was wearing Lapis's favorite outfit. Both of them had dark brown skin unlike the rest of the family, and both had identical golden eyes, just like their father and sister. Lastly, she noticed her eldest daughter, who was preparing plates of food near the stove. She took her seat across from Maron and yawned one final time as Ebony walked over with plates of grit and toast, placing one in front of everyone. Ebony sat down across from the twins and placed her own plate in front of herself.

"Good morning mother, did you sleep well?" Ebony asked happily towards her mother, who smiled in response. Before signing the words 'Of course, how did all my angels sleep?' Ebony softly smiled before answering for all of them "We all slept well enough. After I finish the dishes I'm going to head to Beacon, is that all right mother?" She nods in response and they all begin eating their breakfast. Soon after they began her mother got her attention yet again before she signed 'Have you taken your pills this morning?' Ebony quickly rose from her chair "Oh right, sorry, I nearly forgot." She walked over to the cabinet and gripped a small weekly pill container, opening up the days' lid she grabbed the two pills and walked back to her seat. Quickly placing them in her mouth before swallowing a glass of milk; the rest of the family smiled at each other as breakfast began.

* * *

 _Three-hour skip_

After breakfast, the three younger kids get ready to head into the park their mother finally coming out of the bedroom. Ebony reaches into their hallway closet and brings out her weapon. It was nearly as tall as her and was in the shape of a large lance. As soon as she brought it out all three of her younger siblings rushed over and began observing it thoroughly since they weren't allowed to mess with it normally they took advantage of any chance they could. 'Oooh's" and "Aw's" radiated from them as they touched it in various locations. Ebony giggled lightly at the admiration of her creation, she made sure to keep the safety on so that they couldn't accidentally transform or fire it. After a little bit, their mother clapped her hands drawing attention to her. She quickly signed the words for 'That's enough, let's get going' before heading to the door. Ebony strapped her lance to her back before following her mother. Once all five of them were outside they began to split, the three younger ones and their mother began walking towards the local park, meanwhile Ebony started towards town; they waved towards one another before parting ways knowing that they may not see one another for a while. Once in town Ebony brought out her scroll, opening her contacts and searching for her one of her new contacts.

" _hmmm, should I message Sky or Greene?"_ she brought her scroll up to her chin, tapping it lightly as she pondered the choice. _"Greene certainly is a good listener, but I feel like I want someone to actually talk to at the moment, so I guess Sky it is then."_ After having decided she typed the three letter name into the search bar for her contact list. It quickly brought up the new contact that didn't even have a picture ID yet. Pressing a few buttons brought up the messaging application, and as she walked she typed out the words 'Hey, this is Ebony, I'm heading to Beacon. Just in case you were too, or were already there.' It wasn't even five minutes until she felt the slight vibration of her scroll. Bringing it up she read the message from Sky

'Hold up, you're going to Beacon already? You'll be the only one there for like two hours.' Ebony stopped in her tracks at the message, quickly looking at the time to notice that indeed it was only just now nearing noon. Having not realized she sighs at her own impatience and replies to the message.

'I'm already in town, what else am I supposed to do?' Ebony scanned her environment, the street was brim with activity. Cars and vans filling the roads as civilians of all shapes and colors filled the sidewalks. She decided to head into a café that was only three stores over. Before she was even able to sit down she could feel the vibrations of another message; as she took her seat she pulled her scroll out again to read it.

'I was just about to head out anyway, where are you? We could meet up.' It was obvious to Ebony that Sky meant to get closer as friends, so she smiled at the kindness, the thought of having friends who weren't forced to spend time with her due to work filled her with joy.

'I'm at a little café called "Puzzles" but don't worry, you don't need to rush to get here' knowing how Sky had stayed outside of her workplace for a couple hours just to meet her, she knew she would be the type to go above and beyond. It wasn't long for another message to vibrate her scroll atop the table.

'KK, I'll be there in a bit' Ebony called over one of the two workers who seemed to own the Café/Bar ready to make an order to pass the time.

A knock on the window next to her notified her of Sky's presence. Sky was wearing a casual outfit, with short khaki shorts and a light blue tank-top that seemed slightly too big for her, it was obvious she got dressed in a hurry due to how her hair was disorganized and her bra-strap was next to her neck in an uncomfortable looking position. Ebony began standing but Sky was already heading inside, Ebony decided to sit back down as she saw Sky approaching her booth. "Hey, how're you doing today?" Ebony asked as Sky sat across from her, setting her own small pack in the seat next to her and running her hand through her short blue hair trying to fix it.

"Honestly, it's been a bit hectic today, trying to get ready and all, you know how it is, with parents and all." Ebony nodded understanding how she felt. Having three siblings had its upsides, but also their downsides.

"I know what you mean, anytime I bring Crisis Spire out my brother and sisters go crazy" Ebony commented, gesturing towards her weapon which sat next to her leaning against the wall. At the comment, Sky seemed to beam both at her and her weapon that she seemed to not have noticed.

"Crisis Spire huh? That's a nice name; you have siblings?" Sky managed to address both categories of new interest that Ebony mentioned and Ebony began grinning without knowing it.

"Yeah, I got a brother named Maron, and two sisters named Lapis, and Lazu; they're all younger than me though, so you can expect their reaction to seeing a huntress's weapon." Sky nodded giggling lightly

"Yeah I bet, I only have a little brother named Tim. But I can already tell he's going to want to be a Hunter when he grows up. How old are they?" Sky definitely seemed interested in her family and Ebony gladly continued to talk about them, a hint of pride filling her words when she spoke about them.

"Well Maron is the youngest, he's only eight, but both Lapis and Lazu are twelve. They're actually twins." Sky seemed to tilt her head and smile slightly

"Really? Sorry if this sounds rude, but I thought Faunus couldn't have twins" Ebony seems to think for a moment before responding.

"Well, it's not that we can't have twins, it's more like it's really rare." Sky seemed to acknowledge this as she pulled back with an "Ah" of understanding.

"So, and again, sorry if this sounds rude, but are the rest of your family adorable Fox Faunus as well?" Sky said with a sly grin and a light reddening around her cheeks and Ebony lightly laughed at the question.

"No, actually because My mother is a Deer Faunus, and my Father was a Scorpion Faunus, We're a big mishmash of Faunus types… Maron is a Bull, and since Lapis and Lazu are twins they're both Mice. As for me as you've already stated, I'm an 'Adorable Fox'" She said with a slight grin to complement Sky's as they both laughed lightly at the comment.

"Well they sound lovely; I'll have to meet them sometime. I'm Sorry again if asking you about that kind of stuff is weird." Ebony quickly disregarded her statement and made sure that they were on the same page.

"I may be a Faunus, and most may not like that about me, But I am quite proud of who I am and who my family is. So worry, simple things like trying to get to know me, will never bother me." She said with confidence as she raised her head slightly to make it more obvious how proud she was of her family. Sky smiled at the gesture and took it to heart, making sure to never apologize for who she was again.

"Well, I think Faunus deserve a lot more than what they're given, especially if they're as wonderful as you." Sky quickly added the compliment that caught Ebony off guard.

"You barely even know me, how could you say that I'm 'Wonderful'?" she said with a slightly tilted grin that was full satisfaction and confusion from the compliment.

"I don't need to know someone a whole lot to tell what kind of person they are." Ebony smiled in response and they spent about half an hour talking in the café before getting ready to leave. One of the two owners came over to give them their small receipt for the few drinks, and Sky made sure to bring out her wallet before Ebony could bother, and then directed her attention to the man. "By the way, why's this place called 'Puzzles'?" the man seemed happy that she asked.

"That's the puzzle" the other man answered as he approached, the first one had brown scruffy hair and seemed to slightly slouch, and the second had a silver tongue and had blonde suave hair. The two girls looked at each other questioningly but ultimately shrugged it off and walked out of the café.

"So, wait, if you have your weapon with you, does that mean you don't have someone dropping your stuff off at the school?" Sky asked Ebony with a questioning look.

"No, I figured since this is all I'm bringing I wouldn't need to bother someone else." She simply shrugged off the question as if it was no big deal.

"Wait, that's all you're bringing? What about clothes?" Ebony simply gestured towards her small pack that was almost filled to the brim; before shyly looking away embarrassed. "Absolutely not, I know we just met, and I may not be the richest girl in the world, but I won't stand for you to be proving those racists right." Sky seemed to put her foot down, literally at the thought of yet another Faunus family being poor.

"Well, although I may be proud to be a Faunus, Humans don't seem to see it that way. So my mom and I have trouble raising lien for the rest of the family. It's really embarrassing." She said shyly as she tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, her Fox ears lowering to her head as she felt ashamed to admit their financial situation.

"Well, since we both got time, and because I've been saving lien anyway, let's go shopping" Sky commanded Ebony, but Ebony shook her head not wanting to cause Sky trouble.

"No, I couldn't we only just met." Sky held out her hand in front of her face

"Well, I'm incredibly stubborn, so if we're going to be friends, you've got to get used to me doing things like this," She said with a slight pout that hid the hint of a smile. Ebony admitted defeat soon after and reluctantly thanked Sky for the gesture. "No need to thank me, in return you can make me a promise." Ebony tilted her head slightly

"What kind of promise?" Sky turned towards her grinning happily.

"You've got to promise me that we'll become partners in Beacon!" Sky beamed joyfully with a broad smile and Ebony couldn't help but smile back.

"Well, if that's the case, I'm going to need an entire wardrobe for such a big promise" Ebony teased and Sky's smiled broke quickly at the thought of having to spend that much lien but it soon returned as she held out her hand.

"I guess it can't be helped. Very well, so is this an official agreement?" Ebony quickly took her hand and shook.

"I promise." They both smiled happily as they made the agreement and quickly departed towards the local mall. It only took around ten minutes of idle conversation discussing what position on the team they would play for them to reach the mall. It was large and wide as a mall should be, but for some reason was more imposing and grand than normal. It may have been due to the fact that they were beginning to run out of time, only having about two hours before needing to reach Beacon, or maybe because Ebony had barely ever entered the mall, and never for quite the intention today.

"I want to leave the choices to you, but at the same time I know you would just look at the price-tag and choose the cheapest things." Sky accused Ebony as they entered the clothing district, heading towards a pillar that held a map of the area on it. Ebony gasped jokingly at the accusation before responding in a slightly pained voice.

"I am hurt that you would say that. I mean, if someone else is paying, I might as well get something fancy" she teased again which made Sky seem to pout in pain at the constant thought of her wallet being put in danger. They approached the pillar and examined the map, there were nearly two dozen different clothing retails just in this wing, but they quickly narrowed it down to closest and the most practical. Entering the store they looked around, the insides were lined with brown wood with a darker shade layered against it, giving it a transitioned feeling. The majority of the interior was filled with racks of women's clothing and the back was piled with stacks of pants and T-Shirts. The pair of them quickly made their way past the racks and into the back, looking for more practical clothing than fancy ones. Ebony was quick to the shirts and Sky seemed to notice as her voice called out from behind.

"Don't have many T's left?" She asked as she approached, glancing back and forth from the clothes and Ebony, seeming as if she couldn't decide which to look at. Ebony began pulling up shirt after shirt, looking to see what kind of design they had if any. Sky began next to her, soon pulling up a shirt with a Wolf logo on it and grinning mischievously as she showed it to Ebony.

"Found you" Ebony glared daggers back at Sky who immediately shrank away; throwing the shirt aside. Ebony formed a little pile of a couple shirts aside and Sky immediately intervened, placing a shirt of her own onto Ebony's stack as if indicating that she was making sure to pick out clothes as well. The two shirts Ebony chose were both without logos, just plain shirts of black and green color. The one Sky had chosen already broke the common ground as it had a large print of a Boarba-Tusk with the caption 'Just Roll with it.' This oddly seemed fitting for the situation.

"I don't need that many, just enough to get by, after all, we're getting school uniforms after initiation." Sky nodded in agreement, grabbing the shirt with the large wolf imprint on it again, and putting it into the pile, Ebony quickly grabbed it and threw it into another isle.

"You're no fun." Ebony rolled her eyes grinning at the interaction as they headed for the changing station. "I-I'll uh, I'll stay out here; you should know what to do…" Ebony noticed her face reddening slightly but decided to ignore it as she moved over to the Bras, quickly picking out a red and a black pair.

"Which one you think?" She moved them back and forth in front of herself as if demonstrating and Sky seemed motionless; Ebony tilted her head slightly at Sky's strange reaction to such a basic question. "I'll just have to take them both since you can't decide" Ebony decided to try to tease her again, hoping that it would snap Sky out of whatever it was she was entranced by. Ebony walked into the changing room and Sky was finally able to shake her head out of the clouds, Sky sighed deeply as she leaned against the wall next to the door and gripped her arms tightly to herself as she contemplated her situation further.

Whispering under her breath "Man, this isn't at all how I expected things would turn out… But it only makes sense this way I guess." She sighed again to her own thoughts as a few minutes later Ebony came out of the changing room, to Sky's disappointment she was still in her clothes from before, however they seemed a bit more rushed than before, So Sky quickly assumed that she had changed into the clothes and then back out of them, only using the mirror in the room as a reference. Sky quickly turned attention back on her as she exited the doorframe. "Is that all you need?" Ebony who was looking out into the open room quickly turned towards Sky as if she hadn't known where she was. Ebony nodded and they began towards the counter. "You know, I honestly expected more than just three shirts and two bras." Ebony quickly replied with what seemed to be an already prepared retort.

"Well, then I guess we'll have to come again to finish my wardrobe…" She smirked lightly at Sky who at first seemed completely shocked but then immediately beamed with joy at the idea and nodded vigorously at the suggestion. Lien wise it wasn't all that costly, they made the right choice going to a cheaper and more practical store than a fancy and expensive one. As they were exiting the mall, with only about an hour left they decided to head towards a nearby airship. While they were walking Ebony broke the silence with a question. "What were you expecting by the way?" Sky stopped in her tracks frozen by fear as she realized her mistake.

"You heard that? But how did you- Fox Ears." Ebony's ears perked up as she mentioned them, Sky had felt like an idiot, of course, someone with such keen sense of hearing would be able o hear through a flimsy door. Ebony simply looked at her confused

"Yeah, but I still don't get what you meant." Ebony was killing her, how was she THIS innocent. Sky didn't know how to respond so she sputtered out whatever nonsense her mouths formed on instinct.

"I mean, I was expecting there to be more shopping, but I guess not huh" Sky finished with a weak grin and a fake expression, that seemed to completely fly over Ebony's head, proving yet again how completely innocent she was.

"Well if it's that big of an issue, we should do this more often, I mean, we should be going all the time since we're friends." Sky immediately grunted from pain, as if being shot again by that simple word that burned her like a red hot arrow.

"Y-yeah, totally" Sky sighed again and caught up with Ebony, as they finally made their way onto the airship.

* * *

 _Authors Notes: I'm going to be honest with you all, at this point I'm going to skip ahead, You've all read how the initiation starts, So I'm going to skip ahead to when they all get onto the "Merry go round" all you're missing is how Sky and Ebony got set up for the night and listened to Ozpin's speech earlier on. So nothing you haven't read before; anyway, ONTO THE REST OF THE CHAPTER._

* * *

Sky stood next to Ebony as they took the first couple steps onto the large circular platform. In the center of the platform stood Ozpin and his assistant Glynda, most of the students sprawled out and mingled among themselves. Sky made sure to stick next to Ebony as they navigated the outskirts of the large group until Ebony seemed to notice someone. It wasn't but a minute until Ebony stood in front of a large man, that's the only way Sky could describe him, he wore his combat outfit which was simple in design, prioritizing practicality. He had thick black combat boots that held his gray pants with their tongues. His shirt was a simple white reinforced mesh shirt that fit the laid back strength appearance he had going for him. He had scruffy brown hair and light green eyes, Ebony greeted him kindly and he simply nodded in return as they quickly broke into the conversation, Sky couldn't help but find him an annoyance. _"From what I gather, they've just only met the other night, and yet he's already putting the moves on her, I've got to make sure he doesn't get in my way"_ Sky frowned angrily towards him as she activated her semblance, sending the feelings of despise and anger into him so that he would understand how she felt about him. Ozpin began to speak and it gathered everyone's attention, but Sky couldn't concentrate, and instead focused on using her semblance to gather information from the newcomer named "Greene" as she ruffled through the outskirts of his mind, not wanting to spend too much of her Aura, and not wanting him to notice. She quickly gathered that he definitely felt the same way she did regarding Ebony, the only problem was that it seemed Ebony reciprocated that interest more in him. Sky wasn't even paying attention when the ground shifted out from underneath her, the platform they were standing upon began to rotate in a circle. And she quickly flared her semblance to everyone she could see as she thought to grab a hold of the bars and use them to hold on. Almost all at once everyone scrambled for the handlebars. Her semblance having worked to warn every one of the situation, Sky looked over to her side and noticed that Ebony was there beside her, and thankfully the ruffian was a couple of pegs over, but Sky eventually noticed and fully understood her situation.

"IT'S A FUCKING MERRY-GO-ROUND!?" she screamed at Ozpin and Glynda who were nonchalantly standing in the center as their smaller platform stood still. Sky quickly glanced from student to student gathering tidbits of information, having missed what Ozpin had said she was able to more or less recreate his speech. She understood which direction they needed to head to find the relics and she looked out at the spinning world to find the airships that were leaving, heading West back towards the school she used their positioning as a reference to create a compass in her head. She then looked towards Ozpin and thought to herself. _"Set,"_ she thought as she faced Ozpin's front, waiting and counting as she rotated around him _"Mark…Mark…..Mark…Mark"_ she quickly marked her position in relation to Ozpin multiple times to find out how fast they were accelerating, and then looked out towards her destination, figuring out at which point they would need to let go to get the best possible launch. "EBONY, LISTEN UP!" Sky had to shout to get her attention over the rushing wind. Ebony snapped to attention.

"WHAT IS IT?" Ebony screamed back, her voice straining to reach the volume it needed to be. Sky decided that she needed to relay the information quickly, as to not waste their opportunity.

"I'VE CALCULATED THE TRAJECTORY WE NEED TO TAKE, SO WHEN I SAY, WE NEED TO LET GO. OKAY?" Ebony nodded but then gestured towards Greene.

"WHAT ABOUT GREENE?" Ebony was obviously planning on making him a member of their team, but Sky wanted nothing to do with him. So she decided the only course of action would be to get rid of him from the start.

"I'LL USE MY SEMBLANCE TO TELL HIM TOO, DON'T WORRY" Ebony nodded and Sky looked back towards Greene who was now flexing to show off to Ebony. Sky glared daggers at him, and he suddenly slipped and was sent flying through the air. All at once he managed to ruin her plan; Sky looked back to Ebony who looked extremely concerned for Greene. "HE DIDN'T LAND THAT FAR OFF, HOPEFULLY, WE FIND HIM. C'MON, ARE YOU READY?" Ebony turned back towards Sky and nodded as Sky looked towards Ozpin again, resetting her math _"Set…Mark.. , Mark."_ She turned towards Ebony and screamed grabbing her wrist. "NOW!" they both let go together and were thrown off of the platform into the air, the vicious throw separating them slightly. As Ebony quickly pulled out Crisis Spire and transformed it into its second form. The large Lance like blade split into three sections, which folded back to form a tri-prong bow, leveling herself out she managed to fire a grapple shot, using a section on the inside of the Lance's head, onto a Tree, so that she could swing to safety. Sky grabbed her giant great-sword and stood atop it, gripping the handle so that she could control the engines so that she could use them to give the sword lift to make it into a makeshift hover board, landing in a clearing near to Ebony. As soon as Sky managed to holster her weapon after the abrupt landing, she chased after the direction from where Ebony landed. Pushing past some tree-limbs she found Ebony coiling the grapple shot into her weapon, Ebony turned towards Sky and they locked eyes. Sky smiled in pure satisfaction of finally establishing Ebony as her official partner. And threw her arms up with success, screaming with pleasure "WOOHOO!"

"Someone seems happy to have landed." Sky blushed lightly and immediately brought her arms down, scratching her cheek.

"W-Well, I was just happy to get you as my partner is all." Ebony grinned and walked over to Sky placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I am as well, the way you managed to mathematically formulate the perfect launch was brilliant. I can already tell you're going to be an amazing tactician." Sky blushed deeper as Ebony complimented her and scratched her cheek more roughly as a nervous tick when embarrassed.

"Well, it wasn't that difficult. I mean anyone could have done something like that. They just didn't because they were caught off guard is all…" Sky defended herself trying to pass off the compliment but Ebony wasn't going to back down.

"I can assure you that barely anyone could formulate an equation that would be able to find out how fast it was accelerating, the exact direction we would need to go, and when to release so that our air-time mixed with our curved velocity would land on the path to our destination… all in the matter of a few seconds… and besides, I saw the way you jumped, you were probably more caught off guard than the rest of them combined." Ebony persisted with her winded complement of Sky's intelligence, each time she made a point Sky's blush deepened and her head lowered until she was completely hiding it.

"C-could we change the subject?" Ebony laughed at her embarrassment.

"Remind me later that you can't take a compliment, I'll use it to my advantage." Sky released a sigh of annoyance as she turned away from Ebony trying to ignore her completely.

"Regardless, we need to go ahead and get to the temple, who knows how many other students got there already." Ebony frowned at the suggestion as she reminded Sky of something Sky was either ignoring or forgetting.

"What about Greene? Shouldn't we look for him?" Sky tried to hide her frustration as she heard Ebony question for his safety.

"Our main priority is finding a relic for ourselves, we'll probably run into him on the way, after all, he is a bit further up than we are, and he'll be going to the same place, so we've got to hurry if we are to catch up." Sky explained the situation to Ebony and she reluctantly agreed, knowing there wasn't much else to do but hope they cross paths. Sky and Ebony quickly began jogging towards the temple, both of their weapons holstered so to make it easier to run. Suddenly, on their path to the temple, a loud howl with numerous following growls, Sky and Ebony stopped in their tracks and put their backs together, gripping their weapons and preparing for a fight. "We got a pack of Beowolves around us, you up for the task?" Ebony scoffed at the insult.

"Please, a pack this small, wouldn't need your help even if they had a Beta." Almost immediately after the sentence, another loud howl erupted from the tree line as a slightly larger Beowulf emerged. It was obviously the Pack leader, and from the lack of armor, it seemed to be a Beta.

"You just had to say something didn't you" Sky teased with a cocky grin.

"Well at least it's only a Beta, and not an Alpha" Ebony reasoned and Sky retorted quickly

"Why would you say that? That's as bad as saying 'At least it couldn't get worse' sheesh, don't you know anything about one liner." Ebony giggled at the outburst and the joy seemed to anger the Grimm as they all began their attack, the majority of the group charging in mindlessly, most of the Grimm here would be too young or too inexperienced enough to understand how combat works, but the Beta and a couple of the more armored Grimm stayed behind, watching and waiting. Sky and Ebony split, Sky was faced with four of them, but Ebony was left with six as most came from her side.

Ebony knelt down and flipped her lance around so that the bottom of the handle was facing the grim, after a push of a button a panel opened from the lance and acted as a trigger as Ebony fired a couple rounds of energy into two of the Grimm, using the hidden barrel in the handle to catch them off guard. The rest of the Grimm got in too close for her to use her ranged weapon, so she had to switch it back around to use her lance. But in the simple motion of using her rifle, she managed to down one Grimm and disable another.

Sky split off from Ebony as she dealt with her own Grimm. The first of the werewolf like monsters to reach her made the foolish mistake of trying to wildly swipe its long claws at her. Skies simply thrust her sword forward activating the thrusters near the hilt to send the blade rocketing through the Grimm, killing it almost instantly. The other three caught up to her and each took turns swiping at her in a frantic motion desperate to land a hit. She easily dodged the wild attacks and used the thrusters near the tip to push herself out of their range.

Ebony quickly pushed her lance through the neck of a Beowulf as it tried to tackle her, the large weapon decapitating the beast. The blood splattered onto her weapon and clothing but slowly began evaporating as it no longer lived within the Grimm, whose body also began to evaporate. The other two wolves charged in at the same time and Ebony rolled to the side to avoid their mindless attack, but at the same instant one of the larger armored wolves dived in, it seemed to think that since she was dodging the other two it had a good chance of landing an attack on her, but she noticed its presence way too soon for it to make any progress as she easily brought the lance up so that the Grimm would land upon it killing itself.

Sky gripped the handle with both hands tightly as she brought it to the side of her as all three of the Grimm charged at once trying to outnumber her. Sky activated the thrusters along the side of the blade making her swing it powerfully in a single slash move that sliced through all three of the Wolves in a solid motion, splitting them all in half. The blood from the Grimm sprayed over her like a shower as the top halves flew over her. Their bodies almost completely evaporating before they even touched the ground.

Ebony lined herself up with the two remaining Grimm and ran forwards thrusting the lance out and into the chest of the first Grimm, piercing the Grimm and striking into the second with a powerful blow that knocked them all three onto the ground. But as she did she made her weapon inoperable for a moment while the bodies evaporated, two of the remaining strong Grimm raced forwards trying to catch her while she was down, but as soon as they took the first step a large blade swept across the ground in a swift motion, slicing all four of their legs off, Sky had managed to notice them in time and completely disabled them.

Ebony and Sky reunited after the scuffle and faced down the last Grimm and the biggest of the whole pack the Beta. The Beta didn't have as much armor as some of the stronger Grimm, but it's much smarter and would give them a run for their money if they were alone and weren't prepared. Too bad for this Grimm it was exactly the opposite. Sky moved forward and Ebony brought her rifle up once more, the Grimm stayed low, knowing that making its body a large target meant certain death with the Greatsword. It jumped forward strafing to the right so that Ebony didn't have a clear shot at it, and right, as it was within range of the Great sword Sky, used the thrusters to throw the blade upwards in an upward slash, but it seemed to know what she was planning as it easily dodged the strike, Sky having her whole weight thrown upwards meant she couldn't defend herself against the Grimm and since Sky was in the way of Ebony the Grimm didn't hesitate to try and attack. The moment it took a step towards Sky a bolt of energy shot into its knee-cap, breaking its leg and forcing it into a stumble, Ebony having shot between Sky's legs to make the hit. Sky seemed to have known when it would happen because as soon as the Grimm hit the ground, it didn't have a moment to regroup as Sky slammed the greatsword down with its thrusters fully activated, the blade lodging itself into the skull and neck of the Beta Beowulf. Ebony quickly scanned the area for any straggling Grimm and began to walk towards Sky as rustling brought her attention to the sight of Greene emerging from some shrubbery.

* * *

 _Authors Notes: Yeah, so what if there's a super tiny time skip, I'm lazy, deal with it XD yeah, but I mostly just want to get to the parts that actually have importance, since you already know the small stuff._

* * *

All three of them overlooked the Temple from the small Cliffside, the large ruins scattered across the open fields. Sky was just about to speak out as the nearby tree line Broke open with a Large Grimm known as a King Taijitu, the Two-headed Basilisk Grimm.

"That's a big Grimm; even if all five of us team up we couldn't take it down without attracting more. Should we wait until they pass by?" Sky quickly suggested in a light joking manner, but neither of the other two seemed to catch it as they shot daggers at her with their stares... "I was just joking… sheesh, but seriously, how are we supposed to distract that thing long enough to get them out of there?" After the question, it seemed as if Greene got cocky and just as Sky was about to make a retort he suddenly vanished from sight, seemingly just disappearing. Sky and Ebony glanced around until eventually Sky looked down and saw that Greene was in front of the two students and the monster-ish Grimm. She slapped Ebony on the arm lightly to get her attention before pointing down towards him, but just as she noticed him the two other students crashed into him and The Giant snake seemed to swallow them whole, both Ebony and Sky gasped a deep breath of air as they saw all three of them get devoured, but suddenly they heard the crack of a couple branches from behind them and saw all three of them standing behind them. Sky easily made the connection in her head as to how Greene was able to disappear and reappear

"What… Just happened?" one of the two students questioned and Sky was the first to say anything, probably because She and Greene were the only two that fully understood.

"Teleportation huh? That's a pretty useful Semblance" Sky said with a smug look as a plan was quickly devised in her head.

"Dude, you saved us, man. We'd be goners if you hadn't shown up. I don't even know what to say…" Greene was just bathing in praise from everyone except for Sky who was just thinking of ways of exploiting his Semblance.

"Ok, so that thing is now guarding the temple, it knows we're still close by. It's older than other Grimm, based on its size, so it's more intelligent. We need a way of getting in, grabbing the relics, and getting out. All without it noticing us there at all…" Everyone seemed to look towards Greene, practically forcing him to go in. Sky then realized that she needed to know what relics to grab. Sky thought to herself as she came up with a plan. _"ok, so each team is formed from this initiation test, that means that two pairs of partners are somehow chosen based off of this… so each pair of partners is supposed to bring a single relic, so that must mean that the two groups of partners that bring the identical relics will then be forced into a team… so first I need to know what the relics are, so I can decide what we need to do."_ Sky managed to figure out the reasoning behind the strange rules for the initiation. And then decided that the first course of action would be finding out what the relics are. Greene seemed to be about to leave so Sky quickly spoke up so that he wouldn't waste time and energy "Oh before you go, I need you to do something… Don't just grab random ones, you'll need three so go down there, look around, come back and tell me what you see, got it?" Greene seemed annoyed that she interrupted him so she thought it would be funny to keep doing so... "Oh and don't be seen by the Taijitu… That'd be bad." Greene sighed angrily and glared back at her, and she simply held up her hands jokingly, "What? Just trying to help" Sky could barely contain her laughter at the sight of the giant mute glare at her. But almost immediately afterward he turned around and disappeared. They all rushed to the edge of the cliff to look over it and see Greene walking into the temple, the roof covering their view of him. A few moments later he reappeared amidst their group looking around as if dazed by the use of his semblance. "Well?" Sky asked trying to quickly figure out their battle plan before the large Grimm found them.

"They're toys…" Everyone else immediately raised an eyebrow and looked amongst themselves trying to figure out what he meant by it. He soon clarified "Grimm Figurines…." At the new revelation Sky's mind raced with a thought _"Grimm Figurines? Does he mean the Dire-Light figurine Collection set? That is a huge collection of almost every Grimm out there… wait, it has both Beta and Alpha variants in that collection, so if two groups were to grab both the beta and the alpha, they would be forced to team together… knowing that, it's just a matter of which Grimm should represent us… Boarba-tusks are fast on their feet and heavy with armor, but they aren't very deadly… Death-stalkers are power-houses and incredibly deadly, but not very intelligent… If nothing else Beowolves are resourceful and strong in numbers, it would work since we have to work together as a team to accomplish our goals… it's the best symbolism I can come up with, and it'll have to do."_

"Greene, when you go back, try to grab a Beta Creep, and Both the Alpha and Beta Beowolves… got that? Don't touch anything else, but make sure that you get all three of those" everyone else seemed to look at her strangely, but it wasn't until she realized that it had only been but thirty seconds since Greene came back and she had already formulated a plan. Greene shrugged his shoulders and got into position yet again. As soon as he disappeared the whole group looked over again trying to watch. "Five lien says the Taijitu catches him, any takers?" the other four scowled at her and she sighed as her joke yet again rubbed the wrong way. They watched in silence waiting nervously as the giant snake circled the temple, and as the White Beta head looked into the Temple they all turned around to try and find Greene, but for some reason, he wasn't there. A thought ran through all of their minds at once _"SHIT!"_ they all turned back to find the King Taijitu crashing through the temple as if attacking someone inside it… or more specifically, Greene. They all watched as he seemed to emerge unharmed at first, but the Grimm was right on his tail and gaining as it hissed angrily towards him. "Damnit Greene, You owe me a shit-ton of Lien for this one" Sky said as she grabbed her giant sword and forced the handle to twist so that it formed the handle of a gun, once clicking into shape the sides of the Sword popped out and pressed against the ground, acting as a stand. The top of the sword then opened up revealing a large chamber inside, and all the coils and engines along the faces of the sword twisted into position. The transformation complete one of the two students stared in awe as he quickly realized what it was.

"Your Sword is a FUCKING RAILGUN!?" Sky grinned as the rest of them found out about her master-creation. Truly the perfect weapon of mass-destruction. She held down the top trigger, causing a constant stream of yellow and purple dust to fuse in the coils causing electricity and a powerful magnetic current to form around the chamber, she gripped a large loading bar and pulled it into position causing it to load the large projectile into place. The projectile was a five pound brick of steel encasing a chamber of pure red dust. Once the Grimm got close to the Cliff she aimed the sights onto the Alpha's head and pulled the second trigger, The gun seemed to explode with energy, and it shook the top of the Cliffside as a giant gust of air and wind blew away fallen twigs and leaves, blowing the trees with the force, the bright light almost blinding everyone there, but the result was well worth it. The shot hit dead on and shattered the Snakes armor, breaking half of its faceplate of scales. So that only the soft flesh remained, signed with the effects of the red dust, the Grimm quickly retreated away from the Cliffside and everyone was still trying to recuperate after such a devastating weapon, Sky quickly dropped the handle and left her weapon atop the Cliffside so that it could cool down on its own and jumped down sliding against the cliff trying to reach Greene as soon as possible. Ebony seemed to be right behind her because as soon as she made it to the bottom Ebony managed to catch up.

"Your semblance better be able to transport us as well or else I'm never forgiving you in hell." Greene seemed to understand the situation as he held out his hands and they both grabbed on. Quickly reappearing at the top of the Cliff; Sky quickly pulled away from Greene and pulled Ebony with her so that they wouldn't have a "moment" together. Sky quickly made her way to her weapon, making sure to turn on the cooling system before transforming it back into its base weapon form, before turning back to Greene. "Well, now that we got all _that_ under control… Greene, did you manage to get the right relics before you pissed the thing off?" Greene produced the three relics she directed him to collect, and she was honestly surprised he had managed to find all three of them with the Taijitu literally trying to swallow him whole. Sky grabbed the Beta Beowulf and the Beta Creep. Placing the Beowulf into her own pack and tossing the Creep to the other two students so they could go on their way without having to try and fight the Grimm. She turned back to Greene who still held the Alpha in his hands "Keep the Alpha one; we'll give it to whoever manages to make the cut in our team." Greene seemed to understand as he pocketed the toy into his pouch, as they all exchanged one final glance between one another as Sky sent the mood to everyone that the best idea would be to split up. She had a tendency to do that when groups of people reached an awkward moment or would not know what to do next. Suddenly the Grimm screeched in pain and anger as it charged at the group again, they all knew the cliff was taller than the Grimm, but it wouldn't take long for it to find a way up. They all quickly split apart; Sky, Ebony, and Greene quickly ran into a clearing that seemed deserted, other than the lone Ursa Major. All three of them hesitated for a moment, after all, it was a tough Grimm to deal with, It's much larger that Ursa minor and is covered in armored plates and Spines. Sky quickly sprinted past the other two eager to show-off in front of Ebony. "I got this one; make sure nothing else gets close!" Greene and Ebony split off away from her giving her space to deal with the large Bear Grimm.

Sky gripped the hilt of her sword with both hands tightly as she dragged it against the ground beside her. The Grimm reared back, bringing its arm up next to its head to get ready to slam down onto her, but she quickly used the engines along the blade to send the sword flying into the monster. The powerful slash managed to break through the armor along its arm and sliced straight through. It crashed into the beasts head, the extra-thick armor protecting its skull giving resistance to her attack, making the massive weapon only embed itself into its skull rather than pass completely through. The beast fell with one attack and the other two stared at her in awe, she placed a hand on her hip victoriously with a smug smile stretched across her face as suddenly the shrubbery across from the three of them opened up, revealing another student. Sky immediately locked eyes with him, her Blazing red eyes contrasted against his ocean blue eyes. Sky quickly observed him thoroughly as he seemed to be alone, he had rugged white hair and two cat ears atop his head, he wore black leather clothing that had strands hanging from them in the back, he had a white button up over top a Blue T and under his Leather jacket. For some reason, he wore comfortable sneakers rather than combat boots, and his pants bulged slightly around his ankles as If he had large ankle-bracelets on. Just as he seemed to open his mouth to speak an earth-shattering screech erupted from behind them as the King Taijitu burst through the tree-line and began chasing after them. Sky, Ebony, and Greene all sprinted immediately away from it but the new student seemed to take a few moments to begin running as well, not fully comprehending the situation properly. Sky figured that he would be as good as anyone so she used her semblance to entice Greene to give him the relic, but for some reason, he tossed it over to her instead. She sighed in annoyance but ultimately handed the boy the relic "I'll Explain later, Welcome to the team!" she shouted with a broad grin as the boy seemed to look around at the other two only to find the same across their faces.

The snake began catching up to the group of them and they all knew that if they didn't do something it would, at that moment Sky quickly decided to use her semblance to search the new member's mind to see if he could do anything beneficial in this situation, almost immediately she saw that he was holding back, not to be mean, but to try to stick with his newfound teammates. Sky, on the other hand, decided that it was too good to not use. "Hey! New Guy!" The boy running beside her quickly responded with a turn of his head. "How fast can those skates of yours go!?" The boy's eyes widened in surprise and confusion as to how she knew and he began to speak

"How did yo-"

"Just tell me!" Sky interrupted his useless question and he seemed to understand what she meant but didn't understand what she was planning.

"Fast enough" Sky nodded and began running behind him as she was trying to stay between him and the giant snake. She quickly reached down and gripped the strands hanging from his jacket. Having read through his mind on his weapons meant she understood a general idea of what he had on him, and in this case, it meant that she knew his jacket also had a dozen strands with various kinds of hooks attached to them. Sky unlatched a couple of them and used her semblance to persuade Greene and Ebony so grab ahold of a couple as she then dropped her weapon beside her, jumping onto it using a constant stream of red-dust to propel it upwards like a hover board.

"Go as fast as you can, I don't have enough dust to keep this up!" Greene and Ebony both jumped onto the makeshift vehicle and grabbed a couple strands as well, as the boy quickly shifted his metal anklets into their skates form. And almost as soon as they touched the ground the wheels began spinning of their own accord, as if they were motorized. The Skates themselves were black and made entirely of metal. They had blades along the sides and two spikes on the front and the back, both right above a chamber like opening on both sides. The wheels themselves were made out of blades as well, and as they span rapidly under his feet and they began to pull away from the Grimm as they accelerated.

"Seriously, how do you come up with these crazy ideas!?" Ebony shouted as she laughed lightly at her situation, grinning. Sky scratched her cheek and looked away.

"It's not that crazy… anyone could have thought to do it if they knew…" Ebony rolled her eyes as the situation began to ease in tension as the giant Grimm slowly became more distant from them.

"You know, this is a real pain in the ass" The new team-member shouted back at them as he continued to strenuously pull the other members along, pushing his motors to the limit as they tried to get away from the monster. Sky stuck out her tongue at the boy as he complained.

"Don't you know you should never complain about a lady's weight?" The boy glared back in annoyance as he then gestured towards the massive man near the back of the hover-board.

"Last time I checked, Ladies don't look like Gigantor over there." Sky shrugged her shoulders at the retort as the situation was reminded to them as the Large Taijitu hissed loudly at them again, making its presence known. The four of them looked back towards it and Sky glanced down at her arm, pulling up her sleeve to reveal her scroll attached to her wrist, it showed several graphs, but the one she was looking for was the only one that was flashing. It was her measure of how much dust she had within her weapon, and it was already nearly depleted. Using a constant stream of it the way she was, it may have been smart, but it would also prove to spend too much in too short a time. Sky quickly hit the boy on his shoulder repetitively until he turned around.

"I'm out of dust, Hurry!" The boy understood and he quickly ducked lower trying to push his motors to go faster, but it just wasn't working, not with the incredibly heavy payload he was having to pull with him. One after another the engines began sputtering and the sword lowered inch by inch closer to the ground, everyone worriedly glanced around for any sign of help when all of a sudden a loud bang broke their search as a brightly glowing flare erupted into the sky, laminating the small camp under the platform that they needed to reach. All at once the Sword collapsed and they all fell to the floor with a crash, the sudden stop yanking back on the boy by his strands causing him to fall off balance and fall backward with them. The moment they all got onto their feet again the massive Grimm had already closed the distance, and just as it began approaching them a loud sliding sound rang from above them as a series of explosions erupted along the Grimm's length, it recoiled in pain against them. The Grimm was only given a moment of peace before another series of explosions boomed across it, The Grimm screeched in anger as it was pushed back by unknown means. The four of them got to their feet all panting heavily, the new boy more so than the others, from the exertion as the Grimm began retreating, trying to find a better way to attack, when suddenly four older students ran past them, each carrying their weapons in hand heading to kill the massive beast, as they passed by the new guy seemed to gather all of his energy back as he shouted out

"YEAH! TEAM FLAME! WOOHOO, GO FLAE!" the other three members glanced at him questioningly and he quickly corrected himself, making himself look cool and collected "I mean, cool, whatever…" everyone's attention was then pulled away as Ozpin approached their group.

"Well, it seems you four have made it here all right… I would like to know for what reason a King Taijitu was chasing you, but for now, I suppose that doesn't matter." They all fell back; lying on the ground sprawled out. "Before you get comfortable, I presume you brought the relics back with you?" Sky and the new boy stood back up, the boy clicking his heels making the skates retreat up his leg back into their normal position. They both stretched out their hands holding both the Beta and the Alpha Beowolf relic. "Interesting… this seems too precise to be a mere incident."

"Yeah, I figured your whole thing out. This means we're all on a team right?" Sky explained as she stood victorious as if she had bested him. Ozpin raised an eyebrow and smirked slightly at her reply.

"Well, it seems you have, very well, if you all wish to be a team that badly, then I suppose I have no choice… but like everyone else, you'll just have to wait for the ceremony." Sky pouted at his response and ebony giggled at Sky, the two males simply just smiling at the interaction. Ozpin took the relics in hand and walked back over to his assistant Glynda as the rest of them followed him into the camp. There were probably a dozen other students there, all in groups of two, no one else seemed to have figured it out like Sky had, and all of them were just waiting until they returned from the initiation to find out their teams. The four of them all took shelter in a small makeshift tent and sprawled onto the ground, resting from the intense experience.

"So, new guy… what's your name?" Sky questioned him, and he smirked before responding.

"It's rude to request someone else's name before giving your own" he retorted against her and she decided just to follow his reasoning.

"My name is Sky, Sky Rictoshouwa" Ebony seemed to take interest in the introductions as she presented herself as well.

"Although we've met before, I never gave you my name; my name is Ebony, Ebony Myogi." The boy nodded towards both of them acknowledging their names.

"So what about mega-man over there?" the boy questioned making sure to continue to point out his size, Greene sat up and looked towards him kindly.

"Greene" He spoke quickly, keeping it short and to the point. The boy took the final name into consideration before he finally responded

"Names X, and don't forget it" Everyone smiled at his answer, Sky seemed skeptical but didn't prey upon her thoughts, and chose to keep things simple for the time being.

"Wonder what our team name is going to be" Sky spoke to herself and everyone else seemed to join in on the thought as they all waited for the initiation to eventually end.

* * *

 _Authors Notes: Sorry again for the super long wait, my week has been crazy, and to prevent this from happening again, I'm going to be posting once a week on Wednesdays from this point onwards. So look forward to the middle of the week. I may end up chaning the schedule again if I start getting ahead, but at this point I don't see that happening, anyway, See you all next week._


	7. Chapter 6

_Authors Notes: Since There was a week where I didn't post a chapter I decided to post two chapters today to make up for it, that and because this chapter is super short XD anyway, FINALLY! After all this time we finally made it past the initiation! XD well from this point onward no more recap and background stories (Other than important information possibly) but still, now that we made it past that part, its clear blue skies from here on out. ONTO THE CHAPTER!_

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Chapter 6

It had taken several hours for the remaining pairs to finally make it back to the campsite, and during that time none of the four of them seemed to make even idle conversation as if there was a wall of silence placed between them. They had discovered that two third year teams had been assigned to safeguard the camp including team FLME and team WNDR, pronounced as team Flame and team Winder. Half an hour after the final pair made it back team members from team FLME and team WNDR began gathering up all the pairs, instructing them to meet near the camp center. The four of them moved together, with X on the far left, next to Sky, with Ebony beside her and Greene on the far right. Ozpin eventually walked to the center in front of them all and took a sip from his mug, letting the atmosphere of the situation build suspense as he simply stood staring at the large group of students. He always managed to speak right before someone else would breathe in the air to break the silence. "Congratulations… You all have managed to retrieve a relic and have returned with them in hand with both yourselves and the relic intact." The air seemed to fill with dread as he lowered his gaze at them all, Ozpin stood with a more serious look than they had seen so far. "However, there seems to have been seven students that did not manage to follow in your footsteps…" several of the students gasped in response to the news, as he gave a brief moment to allow everyone to gather their thoughts. "They are all currently in critical condition and are being taken to hospitals in Vale where they can get proper treatment." The four of them all seemed to understand the situation; after all, they were nearly in the same circumstance.

Glynda seemed to notice the atmosphere and interrupted continuing Ozpin's Speech "But that is not what we are here to think about, you are all here to be congratulated on for your acceptance into Beacon Academy. In just a few moments we will return to Beacon to give you all an official ceremony, for the time being, relax, talk among your peers, and prepare yourselves for the next four years." With that Ozpin and Glynda began to walk back towards their tent, discussing something amongst themselves. The students all dispersed into pairs of twos yet again, some sticking with their friends and others sitting alone, but as the four of them reached their own claimed tent a member and notorious leader of team FLME were leaning against the pole holding the front of the tent up. As soon as X noticed Flae standing there he lost all sense of his usual cool and collected attitude and raced to the side of the tent where Flae seemed to notice him.

"Oh hey, thought this was the right tent… so you made it huh?" Flae kept his composure as if he was a movie star, but X was vibrating with excitement but when he went to respond to the question he seemed to regain his stance and fixed his voice.

"Well, of course, I mean, honestly I don't know how Ozpin wasn't clambering through people to get me into his school," X said confidently holding his hands on his hips. Flae chuckled lightly understanding the emotion.

"I feel you there, so I assume I'll be seeing a lot more of you then?" X smirked before responding

"Absolutely, my team is going to be one of Beacon's best." Flae smiled at the gesture as the rest of the members finally arrived at their tent.

"Speaking of which, who's the lucky partner?" Flae questioned towards the other three members and X made a gesture towards Sky.

"Short-stuff over there with the ocean hair" Sky immediately scowled towards X who smirked sarcastically back at her.

"Hair to match your eyes" Flae commented as he noticed X's and Sky's appearance X and Sky looked at one another finally realizing the slight connection "Well anyway, I thought I'd swing by and wish you good luck, I have high hopes for you and your team." Flae finished as he pushed off the pole before walking off towards his own tent where the rest of team FLME sat. But as Flae left, Ozpin decided to replace his position as he approached the group.

"Well, I knew you four would cause more trouble than just the simple relic gesture…" they all looked amongst themselves confused by what he meant, but just as Sky went to speak up he resumed "There have been several instances of teams where Partners were mixed and mingled, but yours managed to get all four members in the mix…" They all realized what he meant by it now, as they already discussed earlier how everyone was everyone else's partner and such. "It would seem as though, Sky and Ebony are partners to each other, but also Ebony is Greene's Partner, and Sky is… _X's_ partner." Ozpin pronounced X's name with emphasis as if he disapproved of him.

"Yeah, we already discussed it, and decided that just because I am X's partner, it doesn't mean that he is mine, and the same goes for Greene with Ebony," Sky responded to his questioning look as if she had already figured it out.

"Is that so? Well, may I ask you what you plan on doing in cases where partners are to work together on something? Will X and Greene be left alone to their own devices, or will they work together as if they were partners?" Sky shook her head to his question

"Neither sir, we've decided that due to this circumstance, we will always work together as a team not as pairs" The rest of the team nodded after her answer and Ozpin seemed surprised by her response as he raised his eyebrows

"If that is what you and your team have devised, then I suppose there's no harm in it. Although it might complicate things it is not the first time something like this has occurred and I don't think it will be the last." Ozpin grinned softly and the team responded with their own as he accepted their situation. "I will be glad to see you all mature into fine Hunters and Huntresses. In the meantime, however, we will have to settle for the ceremony." With that he took a sip from his mug and turned away, leaving them to their tent.

After an hour of waiting team, WNDR and team FLME began rounding everyone up and escorting them to the airships to head back to Beacon, where once they landed an entire audience was waiting for them. The four of them walked off the ship as one, dozens of lights flashing into their eyes and people standing to the side with cameras recording them as if they were reporting on this year's new students.

"Whoa, what's all this for?" X exclaimed in surprise as he looked around the stage room to find rows of people in seats.

"What, you never watched the Beacon intros?" Sky sarcastically questioned him but both X and Ebony stared back with confusion and Sky and Greene looked at them with shock. "Wait, you guys seriously never watched the Beacon Intros?"

"No, I'm sorry; I can't say that I have." Ebony answered and X just shook his head Greene seemed disappointed in both of them as he simply sighed in response. But Sky was the most shocked as if it was common practice to watch

"Basically put, every year there's a news show called 'Beacon Intros' that shows off the initiation and the ceremony for all the new students accepted into Beacon. It's a pretty big deal; I mean it is the best Combat school on remnant." X and Ebony's eyes both widened in surprise as they realized what she was implying

"Wait wait wait wait! Do you mean to tell me that the whole initiation was recorded!?" X seemed the most frustrated with the knowledge as Sky just nodded as if it was obvious.

"Yeah, of course, it's not live so they don't accidentally catch a clip of someone getting mauled, but yeah, they had eyes on us the whole time." X gripped his head in annoyance as he grunted with anger.

"Damnit! I was on camera and I didn't show off even once! Now everyone is going to think I'm a weak link" He sighed deeply as he realized his situation and Sky and Greene could barely hold in their laughter.

"Wait, Sky, is that why you kept trying to show off your weapon any chance you got?" Ebony pointed out and Sky immediately perked up and began scratching her cheek anxiously as Ebony giggled finding out why Sky was so excited to show off. They continued down the path of flashing lights with groups of students both in front and behind them. They sat down together in four of the chairs reserved for the new students; some of which were left vacant. Ozpin then approached the mic standing near the right of the stage, as he prepared for the initial speech. X looked around, he saw hundreds of attendants, and dozens of cameras, above the stage, was a very large jumbo screen that's purpose was still unknown to him, but just as he was about to ask about it Ozpin began speaking.

"Welcome, students and all to the Initiation ceremony here at Beacon Academy." He gave a short pause. "We are here today to congratulate and accept these students into the Academy for not only their success at completing the initiation but also their training over the years that have led them here. This school has originally designed to forge warriors and fighters to protect the world from the Creatures of Grimm, and today we invite Seventy Seven fine students to train within these walls and become strong enough to do just that, to become Hunters and Huntresses. During the initiation students were to pair up together with the first person they made eye-contact with after having landed, they were then supposed to retrieve a relic from the temple and return to me with it in hand, pairs that either could not retrieve a relic, or could not return to me with it have been disqualified from being eligible to enter this academy. Those here today have completed those requirements, and will now be given their official teams for the remainder of their years here. When I speak your name will you please approach the stage?" With that, the large Screen lit up with a white screen.

"Jaye Sencil" With his name called a student about the same height as X stood, he had black hair, and dark brown skin, he wore long black pants that covered the most of his silver colored boots. His shirt was the same color as his pants and was outlined with a gray lining; he wore a dark gray trench coat over his clothing and wore black headphones around his neck. As he approached the stage Ozpin began to call out the rest of his team.

"Daisy Tepes" As he called this name another student stood, she was a bit taller than X, She wore a light gray coat that came up to her neck, and had lacing under it across her front, layering over her white dress shirt that rested atop her skirt. She had long stockings that reached just past her knees and hooked to a garter belt. She also had black boots that rode up her ankles and her entire outfit was designed with a color that seemed to fade from Red to black the further up it went. She had natural red hair that fell to the back of her shoulder blades with two coils of hair reaching around the front. With a large cross pin keeping her hair in position in the back. As she approached X finally noticed that she had black gloves on with silver crosses etched into the design along the top of the hand. But just as she was about to reach the small steps leading to the stage Ozpin's voice called out again.

"Amber Heart" This time another Girl stood, unlike the previous two who were both Human, she was a Faunus, She had long bat-like ears that extended from her head, held tightly against herself, she wore a long dress that reached her knees, over it she had a simple dress with a corset design, she had long sleeves and white gloves, she looked more ready for a dance than actual combat. She had long flowing Silver hair that stretched to her mid-back and she seemed nervous based on how she ducked her head as she walked. Yet again and for the last time for a brief moment, Ozpin's voice echoed through the theatre room.

"Denim Drone" Once the girl Stood X immediately recognized her, after all, she was the girl that was staring at him on the way to initiation. She was wearing the same Green and black combat outfit, and her curly brown hair seemed a bit more matted than it was before, most likely due to the initiation. X chuckled lightly to himself as he now knew her name and what Team she was in.

"You four retrieved the Beta and Alpha Ursa Minor Grimm, and henceforth, you shall all work together as team Jade" as he spoke X noticed that on the screen were images of each of the students, with Letters below them, the order and letters were listed from right to left as Jaye with a J, Amber with an A, Denim with a D and Daisy with a D. It was easy to tell that the letters were the first letter of their names, making their team name JADD, pronounced Jade. Ozpin continued "Lead by, Jaye Sencil" With that the entire crowd cheered as the first official team was recognized for this year's students. With that all four of them walked off the stage together and sat down on the opposite set of chairs that were sitting for them, the two sides representing who all was officially a member of the school. The ceremony continued with the same speed it had for their team, listing off 12 more of the 19 total teams, the thirteenth team to be recognized was theirs.

"Sky Rictoshouwa" Ozpin stated as the previous team TARR walked off stage, with her name called all four of them knew it was their turns soon, and Sky stood up, walking confidently towards the stage, looking to the side and waving, presumably to her parents. Ozpin continued

"Ebony Myogi" Ebony stood, making sure her clothes were all clean she took a deep breath and walked towards the stage, leaving only Greene and X.

"Greene Thum" Greene stood tall and began walking towards the stage, only leaving X who glanced up at the screen to notice that their pictures had already appeared, and from left to right it went Sky, X, Greene and finally Ebony.

" _X_ " Ozpin seemed to add emphasis to his name yet again, which continued to strike him as odd but nonetheless he stood up and began walking towards the stage, about mid-way looking towards the other set of chairs to find Denim quickly look away yet again, chuckling to himself he stood in position next to Sky.

"You four managed to retrieve the Beta and Alpha Beowulf Grimm, from this point onwards you shall all work together as team Sage" X looked up to see the Letters form SAGE as Ozpin finished "Lead by… Sky Rictoshouwa" both Sky and Ebony gasped slightly and both for the same reason, excitement, and pride. Sky in herself, and Ebony for her, X glared at Ozpin who retorted with a smug sneer. Team SAGE walked off stage and took a seat near the back few rows in line with the rest of the teams.

"Oh, my gosh, Sky congrats!" Ebony cheered in a low whisper and Sky beamed with joy, smiling broadly. "I knew he would make the right choice" Ebony finished and Sky scratching her cheek still smiling and blushing lightly.

"I just hope I don't fail at being a good one…" Sky stated meekly, trying to act humble even though it was obvious she was excited to be their leader.

"You won't, I believe in your intelligence." Sky's blush darkened and she diverted their attention back to the stage as the ceremony continued trying to change the subject.

The remaining teams were all called out one by one until only one student remained. It was weird that he was a single student amongst the chairs; he wasn't even with a partner. And yet Ozpin called out his name.

"Frost Sal" He quickly stood tall and briskly walked towards the stage with his head held high and a smirk across his face. Gossip ran though the crowd like wild-fire as the audience mumbled amongst themselves as to the situation. Frost stood in front of Ozpin who simply took a sip from his mug. "I am sorry to say this Frost, but it appears you have not been accepted into Beacon." Gasps echoed throughout the hall, and Frost's jaw dropped slightly as he looked around as if it was all some kind of joke.

"What!?" Frost finally got a grip of himself and immediately lashed out at Ozpin

"Although you did manage to retrieve a relic and return it to me, which technically were all the requirements for the initiation, you failed to meet one final requirement," Ozpin explained ominously as Frost tightened his hands into fists

"What the hell are you talking about!? I did just as much as everyone else!" Frost shouted back at Ozpin "What did I _Fail_ at?" Frost spit the words out like acid and Ozpin stood unfazed and calmly glared at Frost as he answered with only two words.

"My morals" Everyone stood silently as Ozpin gave a brief pause. "Are you familiar with the name Chest Bron?" Frost looked at him skeptically before he answered.

"No, I've nev-"

"Of course you don't" Ozpin interrupted him "after all; you two never had the chance to properly introduce yourselves…" Frost seemed to lower his gaze at the accusation, finally understanding where Ozpin was going. "Out of all the students unable to attend this ceremony due to physical injuries, Chest had it the worst… in fact, at this current moment, it is uncertain whether or not he will survive the night." Everyone's eyes widened in horror as Ozpin explained the situation.

"That wasn't my fault" Frost tried to defend himself weakly, not even looking up to face Ozpin as he mumbled it under his breath.

"You may see it that way, but I see it another… When you and your newly acquainted partner were ambushed by a group of Ursai, not only did you not defend yourself but rather, you left Chest alone to deal with them as you ran away." Frost tightened his fists yet again in anger.

"I told that moron to just run but he said we wouldn't out-run them! It's his fault for not running!" Frost shouted at Ozpin who at this point seemed more furious than even Frost, and yet he still spoke with a calm voice.

"No." Ozpin stared into Frost's eyes, Ozpin's eyes so filled with rage it could be felt by the way he spoke. "You would not have escaped if you both ran, the only reason that you are even able to speak right now is because while you were sacrificing your _partner_ he was defending you" Frost seemed enraged and he took a step forward

"I need to hear this shit from you, I'm getting in this school one way or another, I'm going to be a Hunter!" He said charging forward stretching his fist back to prepare for his attack, when suddenly he just froze in place, even his mouth and eyes fixated as his body shook as if trying to escape someone's grasp. Daisy from Team JADD walked forward, holding out her hand towards Frost.

"You will not cause any more ruckus Frost… Ozpin, you have the stage yet again." Everyone stared in awe as Daisy revealed her semblance, Sky immediately trying to rationalize it.

"It seems as though she is capable of entirely stopping motion or movement within a contained field, like, maybe her semblance can just force someone or something to stop moving entirely…" X smirked and closed his eyes thinking back to when the boy first froze, and when he first saw Daisy stand. Before thinking to himself _"And there's the third slot filled"_

"Mr. Frost, the only reason I brought you back here is because I am legally obligated to do so, if I had it my way, you would have had to trek back here through the forest alone since that is what you think you are capable of doing." Ozpin gave a brief break before continuing "You will not attend this academy, not this year, nor any following year, you have broken one of the most basic of moral codes… One does not leave a friend to die for his own safety" with that Daisy lowered her hand and Frost fell to the ground, on his hands and knees.

"I'll show you, I'll go to another school, I'll become a hunter there, and then I'll show you how strong I am, I'll show you all!" Ozpin took a sip before answering

"No, you will not… I will be informing every other school on Remnant, you will never be accepted anywhere, you will never become a Hunter, and you will never again have the chance to save the world… do I make myself perfectly clear?" Ozpin stared down at him with pure rage, the air itself was teeming with it as it sunk into Frost that all his dreams were crushed by a simple act, tears began to fall from his face as he pleaded.

"No, please, no, I have to become a Hunter, please! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I have to become a Hunter!" He cried and begged, sobbing on the ground, but Ozpin simply ignored him as he turned away and began walking off stage.

* * *

 _Authors Notes: Good notes to leave off on, Ozpin the kind everyone XD_


	8. Chapter 7

_Authors Notes: Now ends the first official arc, AKA the Initiation, and today begins the next arc in the story, where we get to learn a lot more about the main characters and the world around them._

* * *

Chapter 7

Opening the door the four of them walked into their new living quarters, essentially a dorm room. The members of team SAGE looked around their room; it was quaint and barely had enough room for the beds in it let alone any of their personal belongings. The walls were a light gray color and the floor was a dark black, a red silk carpet hung over the window, the four beds were as basic as you could build them. Wooden headboards and frames, they were outfitted with white mattresses and red blankets. There were four desks and dressers in the room as well, which made the room feel even more cluttered. X pushed through the other three and threw his pack onto the center desk under the window, and the others began setting their stuff down in random places.

"Ok, I am not going to deal with a room this cluttered for four years, how do they expect people to live like this?" Sky complained as she stood in the center of the room.

"Yeah, I'm used to being cramped, but this is a whole new level." Ebony agreed, holding her arms across her chest annoyed by the situation

"Agreed" Greene simply stated, nodding and X sighed.

"Well, do any of you guys have any ideas?" X questioned the complaining bunch.

"First we need to address what is the cause of the clutter… The fact that we each have a dresser, a desk, and a Bed is most likely the prime candidate for it, so, if we remove the desks we should have enough space" Sky reasoned as she thought of ways to correct their problem.

"But if we do that, where will we work?" Ebony questioned.

"Hmm, well, perhaps we could just remove two of them? It's unlikely that all four of us will be doing work at the same time anyway." Sky tried to negotiate.

"Yeah, but if we only remove two, the room is still going to be cluttered, we should do something about the Beds, they're the biggest things in the room after all." X countered Sky's proposition with his own as the team debated their possible leads.

"Ok, I got it, the beds are causing a huge problem because they're so spaced out, so, if we get rid of two of the desks, and then push the beds together to make two twin beds, it would make the room around 60% more spacious." Everyone raised an eyebrow at her suggestion.

"That would mean that everyone would have to sleep with someone else…" X pointed out, Sky's head perked up in surprise glowing crimson as she realized the result of her own suggestion.

"I think it would be fine, after all, we're to be getting closer anyway, and this will only make our bonds stronger." Sky's head dropped low trying to hide her own embarrassment as her mind raced with ideas that I cannot describe to you all for specific reasons.

"Well, if no one is against it, I guess we should get to work." X reluctantly agreed to the idea, rubbing the back of his head annoyed. The four of them spent the next half hour taking two of the desks down to the lobby and then rearranging the room to accommodate for the four dressers and the two desks until they finally pushed the beds together. The four of them took a few steps back looking at their room, it would work, sure it wasn't the most it could be, but it would certainly work for simple living quarters.

"Ok, so now we have to choose where to sleep..." Sky pointed out and Ebony, trying to be playful spoke out, jumping onto the bed on the right.

"I call dibs!" she exclaimed laughing lightly, which seemed to cause an immediate chain reaction with both Sky and Greene, as they spoke as one

"RIGHT!" They both looked at each other with glares as they shouted at the same time

"Jinx! Double Jinx! TRIPLE JINX!" they bantered until X broke them apart

"Shut up! Jeez, you two are like children." X shouted at them annoyed.

"She started it." Greene pouted defending himself.

"Nu-huh" Sky retorted.

"Did to." Greene came back

"Did not!" Sky continued

"Quiet!" X broke them apart again and scratched the back of his head annoyed at the pair of them "I'm not going to listen to you two bicker about this any longer."

"Well, I mean, we are both girls, so shouldn't the two girls sleep together and the two boys sleep together? It only seems right." Sky tried to persuade X but he just glared at her annoyed

"Absolutely not. I'm not going to spend the next four years struggling to fit in a bed with Humongous over there" X countered her argument with his own.

"It does seem reasonable," Greene explained trying to get the argument over with.

X twisted his head towards Greene and stared with disappointment "Don't cock-block yourself, bro." Greene simply raised an eyebrow as if he didn't understand what he meant. And Sky scowled at X "Listen, all of you… Ebony and I will sleep in this bed" Pointing to the bed on the right. "Sky, you and Greene will sleep together in this bed." Pointing towards the bed on the left

"Wait, why do you get to sleep where you want?" Sky questioned annoyed at the idea of having anyone but her in the bed with Ebony.

"Because I'm the only one that isn't going to want to do something to her while we sleep" X glared at the two of them as they seemed to both understand what he meant as their cheeks grew slightly more crimson.

"Were they planning on pranking me?" Ebony asked tilting her head slightly and X turned his head in annoyance before mumbling under his breath

"How the fuck are you this innocent?" X sighed deeply but ended the conversation with that, establishing the sleeping arrangement. Sky pouted and mumbled just barely loud enough for the two Faunus to hear

"I'm the leader, I should get to choose stuff like this." She complained kicking the ground slightly with her arms crossed.

"Regardless, that's how it is, so, what's next on our scheduled to do list?" X addressed Sky and she turned around thinking before she responded.

"Well orientation doesn't begin until tomorrow, so we have the day off… I suggest that we all spend the time getting to know each other, after all, a team can't work together if they don't understand one another." Sky reasoned and everyone seemed to agree, Greene, taking a seat on the left bed, and Sky and X taking seats in the desk chairs so that all four of them were facing each other in a messy circle

"So who starts?" X blurted out waiting for someone to introduce themselves.

"I guess since I'm the leader, I'll set an example," Sky announced as she stood, standing in the center of their circle. "Uh, hi, my name is Sky Rictoshouwa" She explained meekly

"Hi, Sky," all three of them said in unison as if it was some kind of AA meeting.

"I guess some basic info would be good, ok, I'm a tactical type, so I'll mostly be making the plans and sitting in the back, my weapon is known as "Peace-Maker" and it only has two forms, it's base form is a large great sword with rocket engines outlining the build. I use red dust to fuel the engines, and it helps deal high damage in short bursts. Its second form is as many knows, to be a Railgun, I can shoot up to three rounds per load, but it takes about a minute between shots to cool down, plus, because the shots are so large, it's really difficult to carry more than one load." Sky finished her explanation of her weapon and X alone clapped as if teasing her.

"Ok, so you're a great support, how strong is your railgun?" X questioned trying to fully understand her significance to their team.

"Yes, I'm mostly a support, I can handle myself well against almost any one on one encounter, as long as it's nothing ridiculous, but it's more difficult against groups. The railgun fires these." Sky walked towards her pack, shifting through it to bring out a large metal brick. "This here is a single round; it's a five-pound solid steel brick, inside is a three by five-inch container holding pure red dust. The chamber inside 'Peace-Maker' is surrounded by coils, it creates a magnetic field that more or less slingshots this baby out at speeds high enough to cause the air to combust. The impact breaks the remainder of the steel round and allows the red dust air to combust upon impact, giving it a second explosion behind the initial impact. Pretty cool huh?" Sky finishes with a wide grin, proud of her creation and everyone looks at her with complete confusion as if she had made an overly complicated weapon. Sky frowned before re-explaining "I pull the trigger this shoots bad guys, bad guys go boom"

"Oooooh" everyone responded as if the dulled explanation got to them more effectively.

"Anyway, that's 'Peace-Maker' What else do you guys want to know?" Greene raised his hand slightly and everyone turned their attention towards him and he responded with one simple word

"Semblance" is all Greene said, but it immediately got everyone's attention back on Sky, who smirked before Greene's flashed a hint of surprise before tilting in confusion towards Sky.

"What's going on?" X questioned not understanding the awkward silence between the two of them. Sky turned around to face him when suddenly her voice rang through his mind _"Well, you could say that my Semblance has to do with complicated thoughts as well."_ X grinned at her response "Telepathy, nice" X seemed to agree with her semblance.

"So? Anything else you guys need to know?" Sky questioned the group, but they all responded with shakes of their head. "Very well, then I suppose it is now someone else's turn." Sky stated as she took a seat upon her chair once more, but both Ebony and Greene looked too nervous to stand so X quickly took center stage with a wicked smirk.

"Names X, but you remember that of course, so where to begin?" X asked for suggestions and Sky seemed to have one as she tilted her head and raised an eyebrow towards him

"Wait, you keep saying your name is 'X' it just occurred to me that our team name is SAGE why is it that Ozpin used an 'A' to categorize your name instead of an 'X'?" Sky questioned and X seemed to freeze slightly, before resuming his charm.

"I don't know, he must've been too lazy to make a team name with the complicated letter" X reasoned with her, but she shook her head at his answer

"No, I don't think so… not only did he not identify you as 'X' with the roster, he also kept emphasizing your name strangely, and why didn't he say your last name? Why haven't you? What's going on?" Sky dug deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole and X seemed to eventually break, sighing deeply and rubbing the back of his head anxiously.

"Sheesh… Fine ok, my name isn't actually 'X'" He paused as he looked away from them as if ashamed that he lied. "My real name is August" Sky seemed to understand everything now, Ozpin disapproved of X's er, I mean August's name choice because it wasn't his real name, and he used 'A' because that was his real name.

"Why did you call yourself 'X'?" Ebony asked trying to understand him.

"It's a long story… maybe another time" August explained weakly and they all nodded, not wanting to ruin the mood. "Anyway, My weapons are known as 'Shadow Gear' they're a pair of metal bladed Roller skates… but that's not all, as you might have noticed when I saved all of your asses, the wheels are motorized." August explained as suddenly his weapons folded over his feet forming into the weapon.

"Hey, you're not supposed to have your weapons in here" Sky yelled at him but he just chuckled.

"Please, I never go anywhere without these guys. Anyway, like I was saying, they're motorized, so all I have to do is control the motor and I can zip away from enemies faster than a Cheshire… That being said, it also gives me great maneuverability; I could probably race circles around you clowns without breaking a sweat." He taunted and boasted about his weapon before gliding across the floor in a circle pattern without moving his feet at all as if the wheels had a mind of their own. "And they got range too; see those chambers right beneath the spike on the front and back? Well, they are muzzles; they can fire several different kinds of Dust rounds, makes for a great use in combat." Everyone seemed to enjoy his little display as he continued to circle around the room.

"Anyway, I play pretty much any slot, just put me where you want me and I'll do it, as long as I get to fight monsters of course," August said with a smirk.

"And what about your semblance?" Sky asked as if getting pay back August just smiled and turned towards Greene

"Ok, for my semblance, I need a demonstration, Greene, stand up" Greene nodded and started to stand up but August held out his hand and Greene froze in place mid-way between standing and sitting.

"Ah, so you have a semblance similar to Daisy's? the one we saw earlier?" Sky tried to rationalize and August grinned.

"Not quite" he lowered his hand ad Greene finally completed the motion of standing up. "Greene, is your semblance combat orientated?" Greene didn't understand what he meant but he knew that there were specific semblances that would only be useful during combat, so he shook his head "Good, use your semblance now…" Everyone's eyes widened in surprise but wanted to see what was going to happen so Greene closed his eyes but right before his semblance took effect August raised his hand again. Greene opened his eyes and looked around acting confused as to what was going on. "You see, this semblance here… it has the ability to not only freeze people for a duration, it can also negate the activation of another semblance… pretty cool huh? But that's not all… Greene uses your semblance once more, this time I won't stop you." Greene nodded and suddenly warped from one side of the room to another. "Teleportation? That's awesome dude" Greene nodded his agreement to the compliment and August continued to speak. "Well, you can go sit down now… it's my turn." Everyone exchanged glances before Sky began to speak, August closing his eyes.

"But you already showed off your semblance… what else can freezing things do?" Sky asked for everyone and August grinned before suddenly appearing behind Sky.

"Oh, my semblance isn't to freeze people or things… My semblance is to Copy other semblances." August explained confidently with a smirk as everyone stared at him with shock

"Whoa, seriously? A semblance like that actually exists?" August nodded before warping back into the center of the circle. "Check it, I can copy anyone's semblance as long as I see its activation" August closed his eyes and a voice rang out within everyone's mind _"Plus, I don't need to copy it right away, as long as I have a memory of an un-copied semblance, I can copy it"_ all three of them looked at him with pure awe. "Basically put, before you start asking questions, I can copy up to three semblances… each one of those three I can use three times… I can copy one semblance as many times as I want, I just need to see a new activation each time I copy… if that makes any sense" Everyone nodded and Sky raised her hand slightly

"So if what you're saying is true, does that mean you've only been showing us one of your copied semblances at a time? If so, does that mean you still have two other semblances you can use right now?" August winked towards Sky

"Bingo, I usually keep at least one semblance at all times, right now I have two more uses of a semblance known as 'Arc Lightning' and one more use of a semblance known as 'Aura Switch'" Sky's eyes widened in surprise

"Whoa, aren't those the two semblances that Flae and Chro used in the Vytal festival last year?" Sky looked at him with awe and shock at the revelation of him possessing such powerful semblances.

"The very same, I was in the stands when they fought, so I was able to copy their semblances, trust me when I say, my semblance has got to be the best semblance ever" Everyone nodded but Sky went to point something out

"It is a powerful semblance… but it relies on other people, it's useless on its own" Sky stated as she thought more about his semblance.

"True, it's pretty useless if I can't snag a good one, but still." X folded his weapons up back onto his ankles and went for his seat.

"So you're from Mistral then?" Ebony pointed out as he sat down, everyone turning their attention back to him one final time.

"Naturally, I came over here to Vale to join Beacon; I've always liked this school more," August explained as he took his seat. "So who's next? How about you… uh… shit can't come up with any more giant puns for him."

"What about Beanstalk?" Sky suggested

"Yeah, there we go, Beanstalk your turn." Greene glared towards Sky who just shrugged innocently as if she hadn't just helped August make fun of him. But he reluctantly stepped forward, standing in the circle, everyone has to look up to him, literally.

"Hi…" Greene spoke quietly, not because he was shy, more so simply because he didn't enjoy talking "My weapon is called 'Wraith'… It has a blade on one end and a weight on the other… I can teleport…" Greene finished quickly, explaining everything they already knew about him as he turned away to sit down.

"That's it? Dude c'mon, you're killing me here man, and not just because you're taking up all the air in the room each time you inhale…" August pleaded and taunted Greene to speak more but he simply shook his head and sat down on the bed once more.

"Well, I suppose it is my turn then?" Ebony suggested and everyone gave weak nods still confused about Greene's lack of speech. Ebony stood and cleared her throat, her ears rising promptly as if excited to speak and explain herself. "Well, as you know, my name is Ebony Myogi, but what you may not know, is that my weapon's name is 'Crisis Spire' It's a lance based weapon, it has a rifle barrel in the hilt so I can fire from short to mid-range with that, as well as use it to speed up my lance, It's second form is a tri-prong bow, I use the rifle's barrel to form dust arrows that can fire long distances, it's best used in mid to long range combat. Because of this, I would classify myself as a support, I don't have anything to benefit you guys, but I'm best used at mid range." Ebony explained with a smile of both confidence and pride in herself and August quickly replied with a simple question that everyone else seemed to be wondering as well.

"So what's your semblance?" Ebony's ears fell down low against her head as she looked down to the side.

"It's… It's complicated… honestly, I'd rather not use it at all, so I don't think you really need to know, I don't plan on using it anyway" Ebony squeaked out, just barely audible to the humans, but easily audible for August, who went to speak before Sky cut him off

"Well, if you don't want to talk about it, we won't force you… obviously, it's troubling so there's no harm to it." Sky said reassuringly and Greene stood placing a hand onto her shoulder smiling warmly, Ebony smiled back to him enjoying the comfort of knowing that her new-found friends cared for her.

"Wait, Ebony is a support… Sky is a tactical Support… Greene is a heavy support… Am I the only one here that's not primarily a support role?!" August finally realized and they all thought about it and shrugged their shoulders.

"Guess that's how the cookie crumbles" Sky suggested and August leaned against the back of the chair groaning in annoyance that he would have to be carrying the team "Hey, it's getting pretty late… it's already fifteen till ten. We should get to bed soon, I hear curfew is strict." Augusts' groans of annoyance grew louder as he acknowledged that he would have to go to sleep in the first place. "I call the first shower" Sky quickly added before skipping into the bathroom and locking the door behind her. Greene watched her go and as soon as she left the room he walked over to August and sat beside him.

"Psst…" Greene whispered to August who nearly jumped.

"What do you want? Oh, and dude, Ebony's a Fox Faunus so if you're trying to hide something from her, don't even try." August explained but Greene rolled his eyes and continued to whisper.

"It looks like you're into Sky… Are you?" Greene asked and Ebony turned her attention to August as well who immediately began laughing uncontrollably. "H-Hey… be quiet, she might suspect something" Greene tried to calm him down but he just kept laughing, at this point he had already fallen out of his chair, holding his gut in pain as he began suffocating from his own laughter.

"Air…. Air!" He barely managed to drag his breath out enough to speak between his laughter and Greene looked towards Ebony who just shrugged in as much confusion as he was in.

"Well? Answer me" Greene demanded, not wanting to have to explain to Sky why he was laughing so hard. August managed to stop laughing, or at least slow down, occasionally chuckling between breaths.

"Oh, my god Greene, the one time you speak on your own and THAT'S what you have to ask?" August began laughing again lowly, but regained his composure once again, wiping the small tears that had formed in his eyes. "No Greene… I'm not into Sky, we just get along is all, after all, we are partners… or well, she's my partner, I'm not hers, but still. Besides I'm like ninety percent sure she wouldn't go for someone like me" Greene and Ebony looked at him in confusion and took turns trying to find out what he meant.

"Is it the white hair?" Greene supposed

"Maybe your personality?" Ebony suggested

"She isn't racist is she?" Greene thought aloud and Ebony hit him in the arm

"She most certainly is not, besides it's probably something about his attire or something." Ebony retorted to Greene

"Whoa, whoa whoa, wait, what's wrong with my hair and clothes?" August questioned defensively and Greene and Ebony looked at each other and both shrugged at the same time as they shook their heads and answered

"Nothing, nothing at all" August leered at them annoyed before Sky finally came out of the shower, wearing her pajamas, they were just some simple clothing pieces, a white T shirt and some Red softer pants that were meant for sleeping in.

"Showers empty," Sky said as she continued to use her towel wrapped around her neck to dry her hair.

"Dibs!" August shouted as he raced into the bathroom slamming the door behind him. As soon as he left Greene grabbed Sky's attention

"You and X are getting along well," Greene said suggestively and Sky raised an eyebrow towards him in confusion before turning to Ebony for help.

"He thinks X is into you, and that you might feel the same." Ebony explained and Greene nodded before Sky shook her head and sighed in annoyance and disappointment.

"No Greene, I'm not into X, er… August, that way… You are something else, you know that?" Sky retorted against his accusation and Greene rolled his eyes, not fully understanding what she meant by it. Sky then placed her towel in with her other belongings, making sure to put it apart from them before she sat down on the right side of the left bed; rearranging the pillows so that she had one for her head and one near the edge.

"What's that for?" Ebony questioned as she noticed the extra pillow Sky scratched her cheek lightly just now noticing that it was a bit weird.

"Well… I like to cuddle things when I sleep, is that so weird?" Sky said pouting slightly, Ebony giggled lightly.

"You're just like one of my little sisters" Ebony answered and Sky reared back as if having been run through

" _HAVE I JUST BEEN SISTER-ZONED?"_ Sky thought to herself as she groaned to herself sighing into her pillow as she lay down on her stomach. August seemed to interrupt the moment as he opened the door walking out with a Towel wrapped around his waist and another in his left hand as he dried his hair, his right hand holding the towel around his waist to ensure it didn't fall, that being said he wasn't wearing anything else and seemed confident with his body, as he turned to the side to get into his dresser a white tail flailed about behind him, poising up close to his back.

"Hey, August, I didn't know you had a tail, I thought Faunus only ever had one trait." Sky pointed out ignoring that he was practically naked, which Ebony seemed to pay great attention to seeing as how she was making sure to look in any location that he was not in, her face a deep crimson. August turned to face Sky before responding.

"Oh, yeah, I guess I'm one of those lucky few, I usually keep it wrapped up though, it's too easy to grab in combat." August explained nonchalantly "Oh, and could you please call me X? I don't really like that name…" X corrected Sky before grabbing his clothes from his bag and heading back towards the bathroom to finish changing, turning around with a smirk. "Hey, Ebony, don't be so shy… after all, we're all team-mates here" He taunted her and she still looked away from him as she shouted back towards him.

"Maybe so, but I'm not really looking forward to delving that deep within the first day of knowing you!" Ebony said embarrassed that he was practically naked, X just chuckled before closing the door and changing into his sleep attire. Sky turned towards Ebony who was now finally facing forward, releasing a deep breath of relief that he had left the room.

"Hey, I don't mean to be rude, but seriously, I thought Faunus could only have one trait, is it just chance? Or special situations?" Sky questioned trying to understand the circumstance but Ebony shrugged as she shook her head.

"Sorry, I don't have a clue; just because I am a Faunus doesn't mean I know everything about them… try asking one of the teachers if you're so curious." Ebony advised before X emerged from the room, pulling a Basic black T-shirt over his stomach before walking over to his own dresser. Each of the Team members took their turns getting ready for bed before they all clambered into their assigned beds and began their first of many awkward nights sleeping together in pairs.

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 _Authors Notes: Hey, thanks again for reading, make sure to leave a review, and share it around to your friends. Things are going to get a bit more informative, and any questions you might have may be revealed here soon, so get ready for all that good jazz in the next chapter! See ya._


	9. Chapter 8

Authors Notes: Hey, this chapter will begin the Academy Arc, where the team will go on missions and sit through interesting new classes with a never before seen teacher. Plus a lot more character development. If you guys want to see anything make sure to leave a review or DM me to let me know what you think would make the story better. I'm always open to suggestions.

Chapter 8

Sky and Ebony sat alone on the edge of a balcony, their legs hanging off of it. The bright orange sun eclipsing across the horizon, shifting into a red hue; as the wind rushed through their hair Sky reached her hand over and placed it atop Ebony's which turned over to grip Sky's. Ebony and Sky turned to face each other; no words were needed in the moment they would share. Their faces leaned close, close enough that their breaths mixed; they pressed their foreheads against each other. Sky reached her hand up and laced her fingers around the back of Ebony's head, pulling her in as Ebony's voice broke the silence.

"Orientation starts in just a little while, you need to get dressed" Ebony explained in the moment but Sky didn't seem to understand as she continued to pull her in but as she opened her eyes all she could see was the white pillowcase that she held in her arms. Sky looked up and saw all three of her team-mates staring down at her. Ebony was kneeling next to her bed, X was standing beside her, and Greene was towering over the both of them. Sky then realized that her lips were still firmly pressed against her pillow, and she slowly removed them and softly patted the area they met.

"U-uh, g-good pillow…" Sky said shakily as her face steadily grew more crimson. Ebony brought her hand up to cover her mouth as she began giggling, X simply rolled his eyes and walked away, Greene raised an eyebrow at her before he followed X unsure of what to make of the situation.

"Shouldn't you buy it dinner first?" Ebony teased and Sky immediately threw the pillow away to her side as she jumped out of the bed, eager to get a handle on everything.

"A-anyway" Sky started, clearing her throat with a light cough before begging again. "So, team, today we have orientation at nine, so we need to make sure we're all ready by eight-thirty." Sky explained but X turned towards her with his eyebrow raised as he answered.

"It's already eight-forty-five sleeping beauty" He explained as he opened the door and he and Greene walked out of the room, presumably towards orientation. Sky's eyes widened as she looked over at the clock to see that X was right, she ran into the bathroom quickly, slamming the door, only to then open the door up again to grab some clothes and then head back into the bathroom again, all the while screaming.

"Why did no one wake me!?" Sky shouted and Ebony could barely contain her laughter, making her response hard to understand.

"Sorry, I felt like letting you sleep, didn't want to ruin a dream or anything, after all, you seemed to be enjoying yourself." Ebony tried to explain through her laughter, Sky could barely hear her through the door but she didn't really care about the explanation anyway as she tried to get ready, and she could barely hear Ebony as she called out the second time. "Hey, I'm going on ahead, make sure to at least attend ok?" the next thing Sky heard was the sound of the dorm room door closing. Sky quickly rushed putting on her clothes, not bothering to care for her hair at all since it wouldn't make much of a difference anyway. As she exited the bathroom, she quickly grabbed her shoes and began searching for any of her socks through her bag. When suddenly the door opened once again, she turned around to see that Ebony had come back, but instead of greeting Sky, she made her way over to her desk opposite of her and grabbed out a couple of pills before swallowing two of them, she must have forgotten to take them earlier, and they both quickly made their way out of the dormitory, heading into the main lecture hall for orientation.

Sky and Ebony eventually found Greene and X, well, they found Greene due to seeing his head out over the crowd of people. When they approached them they found them talking to two of the members of team JADD, Jaye and Daisy stood in front of them both, X turned to see them and waved them over.

"Hey, guys, check it out, this here is Jaye and Daisy from team Jade. They're actually pretty cool." X stated matter-of-factly as he placed his hands into his pockets turning his attention back onto the other two. "So, you two actually managed to take down a Taijitu?" X questioned seemingly impressed, Jaye was the first to respond.

"Well, naturally, you're looking at the strongest pair here; you think something like that would even scare us?" Jaye's voice was hoarse and deep. Like wood scraping against wood, but it was also filled with arrogant pride, which seemed to fly over X. Daisy responded quickly after he finished.

"We weren't the only ones there, there were four other students, including Denim and Amber" Her voice was closer to a man's than a lady's it wasn't exactly deep as it was controlling, it held an authority that didn't seem right, and definitely imposed power. Jaye seemed to disapprove of her statement, as he turned towards her with a glare

"Yeah, that maybe true, but we were the only two that did anything, Trust me, we're the real deal" Jaye tried to recover his bravado and appearance in front of the two girls that just showed up. Sky simply rolled her eyes but Ebony seemed impressed as if no one but Sky could see past his façade. "Well anyway, we better get going, Amber and Denim are gunna kill us if we make them wait," Jaye explained as he and Daisy began to turn away.

"Make sure to say 'Hi' for me to Denim, She'll know who it's from" X stated with a smirk that oozed ego and Sky couldn't help but roll her eyes for the second time for the reason. Jaye waved his hand back at them without turning around to keep the act of the cool guy up, and Sky turned towards X with an annoyed expression both from the morning she went through and the fact that he was just another cocky male student full of ego.

"Why are you so interested in Denim? You've never even met the girl" X just shrugged at the question before giving a cryptic response.

"Long story, well, not really, but long enough," He said passing off the situation as if It was nothing, turning to the stage as Ozpin walked out yet again sipping from his mug.

"Seriously, does that thing ever run out of Coffee?" Sky retorted and X snickered along with her both of them making fun of their headmaster, who began to speak.

"Today is your first official day as students of my school, congratulations once again on reaching this level of training…" after that Ozpin fell silent and his assistant Glynda began to take over for him, explaining the more formal routines of a school.

"Later you will all be issued your uniforms as well as your schedules, as for now you all have a chance to sign up for the Temp class that comes here every three years, luckily for you all this is the first year of its cycle, meaning you all can experience the majority of your stay here within that class, if you so desire, if you wish to take a more traditional route, please make sure to schedule yourself for any specific courses you wish to take… Unlike other schools that require you to take specific classes, you are required only one class per year, after all, it is your training that you will be building, so it is in your best interest to sign up for as many courses as you can, but the choice is yours." Glynda explained as she pushed several buttons on her pad, suddenly dozens of holo-pannels lit up, listing available classes and courses, individual students were able to enroll in the specific courses, but only teams could enroll in the major classes. Team Sage began towards the first in the long line.

"What was all that about a Temp course?" X questioned trying to get any more info from anyone else, of course, Sky came up with it first as the other two simply shook their heads.

"It's a class that goes around the different academies every three years, you're lucky if you can get in, or so I've heard… I don't know anything about the course itself" Sky answered and the other three exchanged glances as if deciding whether or not to take it.

"Well, if we take that course, we would only be able to take specific courses on the side… So if we want anything else it's that or this…" Ebony added in, explaining their predicament.

"Yes, but what if this course is way better than all the others combined?" Sky suggested trying to win the team over to her side of the argument

"Or worse" Greene stated simply, turning her entire argument against her with only two words. X seemed the most conflicted as if for once he actually cared deeply about something, when a sudden flick in his eyes changed it back to his natural ego.

"Hey, who cares, even if it's the worst course on campus, we'll still make it awesome, and if it's good that's just a plus, besides if it does suck we can just skip it and take a crap ton of Specifics, I say we go for it," X explained with a grin as if his mind was set on the idea of taking the course. Sky nodded her agreement as they both faced towards Greene trying to sway him. He considered it before eventually giving in and nodding as well. All three of them then turned towards Ebony.

"Well?" Sky questioned trying to ease her into agreeing as well.

"Hey, I never said no, I was just trying to get everyone to understand," Ebony said with a smile and a shrug, and with that, all four of them were in agreement so they skipped past the majority of the panels heading straight for the Temp course.

"You three go ahead and find as many specifics as you can, I'll register our team since I'm the team leader," Sky commanded and the other three split off towards the specifics section, Sky turned back around and waited in line to sign her team up.

Four Hours Later

Greene sat down next to Ebony, placing his tray of food in front of him. X was positioned on the other side of the table and Sky was on the other side of Ebony. X threw up his hands as if insulted.

"Seriously guys? Why am I the only one on this side? It feels like it's some kind of meeting with you three sitting like that." X complained but Ebony shrugged before answering.

"I suppose we all would just rather look at you whilst eating, isn't that a good thing?" Ebony teased as if trying to convince X that it was a compliment that none of them sat next to him.

"Hmm, well when you put it like that, I guess it's for the best," X said with a grin, accepting Ebony's attempt. X then turned his attention towards Sky who had been silently eating her meal contempt with her situation. "So, when does the first class begin? Since we already have all our uniforms, and schedules, the only thing left is to actually go to this so called 'Special Course' so when is it?" Sky seemed to jump out of her own daydreams when he spoke to her and she quickly thought to herself trying to remember.

"Well, since it's now one-fifteen, we haaaave… fifteen minutes" Sky explained casually and all three of the other members jumped to their feet, realizing that Sky was the only one in an actual uniform.

"What the hell Sky!? Why didn't you warn us!?" X shouted in anger as Ebony and Greene quickly swallowed the remainder of their mashed potatoes Sky smirked towards him before responding in a casual tone.

"Oh, sorry, guess I would just let you all be, you seemed pretty happy…" X scowled towards Sky before whispering just loud enough for her to hear.

"You sneaky son of a bitch" Greene and Ebony both raced out of the mess hall, and X quickly finished his food, Sky called out to him as he ran off towards their dorm.

"Class 215! Don't be late!" Sky called cheerfully and X held up a middle finger back towards her as he ran off.

"What was all that about?" a new voice attracted her attention from her right, as team JADD sat down next to her a few seats away. She would have recognized either of Daisy or Jaye's voices, so it must have been from either Denim or Amber, who sat down next to one another, Jaye and Daisy sitting across from the other two. All four of them were in their uniforms and seemed ready to tackle the first class of the day, Amber's silver hair was neatly brushed down her back with only two strands hanging in front, Denim's brown hair was braided across her head, with a single braided strand hanging in front of her right shoulder. With her hair put up it was easy to tell that she had cross earrings hanging from her ears, with a similar necklace to match.

"Just a little team prank is all" Sky explained and Jaye's dark blue eyes lit up with ideas as if she had ignited a fire of inspiration within him, but Daisy's amber eyes quickly stared him down as if commanding him to negate the thoughts that were running through his mind.

"If you start pranking them this early on, they will learn not to trust you…" the same soft and snarky voice called out in response, but it was obvious that it was Denim's now that she could see her actually speak. Denim turned her attention to Sky, her Golden eyes instantly reminding her of Ebony's

"It's actually pay back, so I don't think it's of any concern" Sky explained as she took a final bite of her biscuit Denim nodded in understanding as Sky stood to take her leave. "Oh, hey, Denim" Denim turned her attention back to Sky "X won't explain why, but for some reason, he's trying to get a hold of you, do you two know each other or something?" Sky asked and Denim quickly turned away, her grip tightening around her utensils until they snapped in half Sky's eyes wide and she quickly turned around "Never mind, I won't bring it up again" Sky added on as she took her leave at a pace, heading for the classroom.

Sky looked down at her scroll, one-thirty three. She twisted her mouth in annoyance as neither her teammates nor the teacher had arrived yet, Sky tapped her foot rapidly as she waited for everyone. She was sitting near the front, on the second row to the right of the classroom, having wanted to force her teammates to walk across the entire classroom to sit next to her for the maximum embarrassment. Sky looked around and noticed that there were five other teams in the room, team COAL, PSTA, SHDE, SMKE, and team JADD. It was surprising at first when she saw team JADD walk in through the door, but she understood their choice and they all waved down towards her, as they sat in the far left top corner of the seats. Sky quickly turned her attention to the door as the other three members burst through them, Ebony seeming to be a bit out of breath, where as the other two simply strode towards Sky. They all sat in row that their team is represented as, with Sky to the far left, followed by X then Greene and Ebony on the far end to the right, Sky pouted at how Ebony had refused to sit next to her but her attention was brought somewhere else when the door from the left finally opened. Every student seemed to stiffen up at the same time, other than X and Jaye of course, as the two tried to play the role of the 'Cool guy in school' as the door opened a woman took a few steps into the clearing, stepping in front of the large desk in the center of the room. The Woman stared down at her scroll for several long minuets as if telling the class that her time is more important than theirs. Her dark black eyes gazed through her thin glasses down onto the device, her right eye having more difficulty than her left, as it was slightly covered by her dark green wavy hair. This was folded over to her right side, and folded up in the back, held together with two purple pins; she wore a black suit carelessly unbuttoned with a dark green dress shirt haphazardly buttoned underneath, and a dark purple shirt underneath that. She gripped the cigarette that was held in her mouth with her right hand as she held the scroll in her left; she puffed out a breath of smoke before placing the cigarette back into her mouth, returning her hand to the device to continue scrolling. Sky finished noting her appearance with the realization that she also had rose earrings on and a golden necklace with three purple gems along her neck. She sat in front of the desk, scrolling through the device long enough that someone from team COAL raised his hand, trying to gain her attention. When He noticed that she wasn't paying attention he began to speak anyway.

"U-Um, he-"

"Welcome class…" She quickly interrupted him; her voice was regal and filled with authority if she didn't know any better Sky would have thought her to be the headmaster based on how she presented herself. She quickly continued so that no one had a chance to speak without her consent, "Normally this would be the time that I call out each and every one of your names so to ensure that everyone is here, and to allow me a chance to try to remember your names… But I don't feel like that so I'm just going to call out your teams instead… Coal?" She raised her head enough to look upon the class, holding her cigarette in her right hand and placing her scroll on the desk. After a few seconds to gain his composure Cod stood.

"Team Coal present" Cod announced for his team, obviously trying to win points with the teacher by being formal, but she didn't even seem to recognize them and continued with her forced monologue

"Jade?" She questioned out towards the group and Jaye quickly rose with a grin.

"Obviously we're here" Jaye spoke confidently for his team but the teacher barely noticed him

"Sage?" with their team called Sky quickly stood up in her seat and spoke nervously, trying not to make the teacher think less of them.

"We're here ma'am" She explained quickly and yet again the teacher didn't even think about it before continuing.

"Shade?" yet again she voiced out and yet again another student stood

"Present" Sea stated as she took her seat almost immediately after, knowing that the teacher didn't seem to care.

"Smoke?" She quickened her pace, trying to get it over with

"Here" Shayne stated without moving from his seat

"And lastly, Pasta?" a few members of team SHDE and SMKE chuckled at the name but Purg still stood

"We're here as well" He said before sitting back down, the teacher then placed the cigarette back into her mouth for one final huff before taking it out and squishing it into a dish on her desk that had several over buds in it already, she stood up and breathed out the smoke before she began to speak.

"Alright, listen up, my name is Steel, I'll be your training instructor for the next three years… or at least until you eventually quit this class in search of an easier one." With her initial introduction, everyone began looking between one another confused about their situation "First things first… I'm going to go ahead and set some ground rules, first off, you're not the only group of teams attending this course this year, and in fact, over half the teams that made it in are attending, so we had to split them up into two groups. That being said, you are not to communicate with any other teams from the other group, unless it is not course related, meaning that nothing that happens in here is to be talked about out there. Secondly, I am not a teacher, I am a training instructor, a teacher tells you how to do things, I tell you what to do, and when to do it. A teacher congratulates a student on getting good grades; I reward warriors for successfully defeating enemies and that brings us to the third point. You are to do whatever I tell you to do, no matter the situation, of course, you can choose to do whatever you want, but I'm not going to go easy on you for disobeying me." She explained firmly and everyone seemed to understand what they had gotten themselves into. "Lastly, this is simply a course in a school after all… If you don't like it, or if you don't think it will help you in the long run, please feel free to leave at any point in time, I don't want anyone thinking they have to be here and complain because of it. That being said, I am here to help you all develop, if you stay in this class, I give you my personal guarantee that you will all improve at a much faster rate to a much higher degree than any other method or curriculum." She explained holding her hands together as she looked out towards the desks viewing the students. "Alright, with all that said and done, I want everyone on the same page about where we'll be starting off… so who here knows most of what there is to know about Aura?" She asked calmly as if it was a basic question that they could all answer, and it was, Aura was one of the most basic topics for a Hunter, so naturally, every student raised their hand, some more than others, but everyone felt confident. "Wrong… I already know that no one here knows even half of what there is to know about Aura…" Everyone slowly lowered their arms looking back and forth in a completely confused state, having thought Aura to be the building block; everyone thought it to be fairly easy to understand. "So who here thinks they know pretty much anything about Semblances?" With their beliefs having been crushed less raised their hands, but still, most did. "Wrong again… not a single one of you fully understands how a Semblance works… In fact, I don't think a single person here fully understands how their own semblance works…" She explained and everyone recoiled in shock at her accusation. For her to tell them what they did and did not know was not only confusing but completely different than what they had expected.

At that moment through the disbelief Cod stood up, not only confused but also upset at her claim. "Give us some credit, sure we may only be students, but I'm sure there's at least one person here who fully understands Aura or Semblances… we are Hunters and Huntresses in training after all" Ms. Steel stood up from her leaning position and fixed her glasses against her nose ridge, before placing her hands on her hips.

"Congratulations young man, you're the first to stand up for yourself this year, you're right, you are all hunters and huntresses in training, but that doesn't mean a damn thing" She stated plainly staring Cod down, seeming to only address him as a student of hers now that he stood his ground. "You are all attending Beacon Academy, the most prestigious combat school on Remnant, and still none of you here fully understand the complete basics, no one here has yet to fully understand what Aura is, what a semblance is, and how they work together like puzzle pieces. But I promise you that if you stay with me if you work hard and you strive to complete this course, through the fire and hell that I will put you through, I guarantee that you all will be some of the finest teams to ever graduate from this school." She finished her speech on a high note to fill them all with a desire, after which she turned around and walked back to the front of her desk, grabbing some papers.

"Alright, since I know a team or two is going to be leaving this course by tomorrow I plan to make the most of today, I want you all to at least learn something to get you by, so I'm going to go all the way back to the most basic and fundamental thing there is, Grimm." She explained as she pressed a button on her scroll and the board lit up with a bright light as if a projector was shining on it. "Who here thinks they know the most about the monsters we fight?" she questioned and three hands raised, one from Daisy, one from Percy, leader of team PSTA and the final hand from Sky, Ms. Steel scanned the room before pointing towards team SAGE "Sky Rictoshouwa, come forward and be my little assistant. You other two don't know as much, so learn something today" She demanded and explained casually and Sky stood up before stopping realizing that she never gave Steel her name before she continued down next to her. When she approached Sky noticed that the teacher was standing next to a chair set up facing the board, and behind it was a small desk lit up with a light, it was obvious to her that the desk would project whatever was placed onto it onto the board, but it was still an odd way of doing it. Sky sat down into the chair and Ms. Steel stood behind her behind the projecting device. "Ok, basically this here is a quiz, I'll bring up images of Grimm, and you are to identify them and answer any questions I give you about them, do you understand?" Steel made sure Sky was on the same page.

"Yes ma'am" Sky answered quickly with a nod

"First off, don't call me 'Ma'am' makes me sound like a hag, secondly loose the stiff attitude, I'm your trainer, not a damn Principal." Steel addressed Sky casually to ensure that they could get along easier. The board then lit up with several images of drawings a Beowulf, in different poses. Its body was that of a humanoid wolf hybrid, white bones stuck out from its elbows and knees, and it had a few white bone armor plates in various locations, most of the images showed the plates on its shoulders or thighs, the areas that could be armored without major loss of mobility. The Grimm had a white bone mask on, as all Grimm do, the mask covered its face and had red lines etched into the bone, the only openings were for the blazing red eyes. Sky instantly recognized it of course.

"That's a Beowulf; they're the most common types of Grimm, and arguably the least deadly, but also the biggest cause of death, not because of their strength, but because of their numbers." Sky explained without taking a breath and Steel nodded, not impressed at all, however, after all, they were the most basic type of Grimm.

"Correct, so what are the primary attack locations for a Beowulf?" Steel questioned, making sure that everyone knew the key areas of the body to strike in order to deal a deadly blow.

"Since the Creatures of Grimm don't need any vitals to survive, the most crucial areas to attack would be the chest or the neck; other vital areas include the armpits, and the knees, as they would essentially take the Grimm out of the fight." Steel nodded again accepting her answer before removing the images of the Beowulf and replacing them with images of a large fat Grimm; it had fairly short and thick arms and legs in proportion to its larger body, and small head. It had about five white bones sticking out from its center back, and it had bones emerging from its elbows similar to the Beowulf. It's Grimm mask was wider and covered more area, due to the width of its face; Sky also knew the answer to this as well. "Ursa Minor, the second most common Grimm, they're slower than the Beowulf's, but they make up for it in strength and durability. Ursai are known for being the main cause of villages falling, those defending a small village may be able to stop a few packs of Beowulf's but when a group of Ursai follow those packs, it can be overwhelming to the inexperienced." Sky explained again, trying to detail out her explanations so that Steel would know how well she studied the monsters.

"Correct again, and although the primary attack locations are similar to the Beowulf's, they are also less effective due to the size of the Grimm… How many variations of Ursai exist?" Steel asked her and Sky didn't take long to answer.

"Unlike most Grimm, there are actually six different variants of Ursai… Most Grimm only has three different variations, the 'Common' group, the 'Beta' group and the 'Alpha' group. But Ursai also have two groups known as 'Minors' and 'Majors'" Sky began to explain and Steel replaced the images with ones of an Ursa Major, it was identical to the Minor, but larger, with dozens of spikes along its back, and dozens of armor plates surrounding its body in key locations to protect its body. "Common Grimm is like the foot soldiers, they're the most common, and hence the name and they are considered the weakest. A 'Common' Grimm is young; it hasn't had time to develop its mind or muscle, and because of that they are careless and rush into battle without thinking. 'Beta' Grimm are intelligent, or at least more so than 'Common' are, they developed their mind rather than body, and because of this they normally have considerably less armor than Common or Alphas. Beta Grimm are usually the coordinators, they instruct other Grimm on what to do and wait for a better chance for itself. And lastly there's the 'Alpha' Class, Alpha Grimm are the strongest of their type, they developed their bodies, and because of this they normally are covered in more armor and thicker hide. Alpha Grimm aren't mindless but they aren't intelligent either, they charge in when they want to, and they're considerably stronger, faster, and more durable than any other kind of Grimm of the same type. Alpha's are usually either lone Grimm or leaders of Packs, depending on the Grimm." Sky finished explaining the differences of each kind of Grimm, and how Ursai have six variations.

"Excellent explanation Ms. Rictoshouwa, so what kind of Grimm is this?" She questioned as she replaced the images with new ones, this time drawings of serpents filled the board, The Grimm was that of a snake, it had two heads, one on each end of the tail. The body was both black and white, one head was completely black, the other completely white and the colors faded and transitioned into one another near the center of the body. The images showed the jaw of one open, and the rows of sharp fangs protruding out, the two largest ones being roughly the size of an average male. Showing that the Grimm was massive, The black head had white armor plates covering the top side of its head and the white head had black armor plates in contrast, like both Grimm before, this Grimm also had red piercing eyes.

"Easy, that's a King Taijitu, They're Basilisk Grimm that roams forests and caves, due to their immense size they often travel alone, but they're never truly alone due to their other half. And before you ask, the primary attack locations for a Taijitu are its eyes, and its mouth, given that those are the only two locations on the Grimm that isn't completely covered in armored scales" Sky continued to explain the monsters presented before her Steel nodded before changing out the images yet again. This time the board filled with images of a monster similar to a scorpion, it had eight legs with two huge claws in its front, the claws were bladed along its pinchers making any pinch similar to a guillotine. It had eight eyes and a large glowing stinger hanging from its tail that reached out over its head, the entire thing was completely covered with white armor, only its legs and underside was left unprotected by the armor. "And that's a Deathstalker… They're Scorpion Grimm, similar to the Taijitu's they're primary difficulty is due to their size, they're massive, and because of that, their pinchers are tools of destruction as they can cut through stone depending on where they want to go, they're also equipped with a large singer, it's filled with incredibly potent toxins that are very deadly, of course, if a stinger that size was to break through your aura, the poison isn't going to be what kills you. Deathstalkers only have weak points in their joint locations, such as their legs, and their tail, their eyes are also vulnerable but with its thick skull right next to them, it makes it difficult for any attack to be effective." Steel then replaced the images yet again. the screen now lit up with images of a bird, it had a large wingspan and huge talons, it was pitch black with no armor, aside from the large mask that covered the entire top side of its head, reaching its beak. It had four eyes and red etchings along the Grimm mask similar to how every other Grimm has etchings along their masks.

"And this is?" Steel asked knowing that she knew, but still ensuring that everyone was on the same page.

"That's a Nevermore, one of the most deadly common Grimm. They're giant building sized birds that use the ability of flight to their advantage." Sky explained quickly knowing that everyone knew of the horrors a Nevermore could cause.

"And it's weak-points?" Steel followed up, and Sky made sure to keep the pace

"It's weakest points of the base are the wings, without them, it can't do anything, although it's neck is more vital, it's difficult to get close to its mouth without putting yourself in more danger than necessary" Steel nodded her agreement again before removing the images. When suddenly another student raised their hand and spoke out.

"Ms. Steel, I understand you're trying to get a grip on what all we know and all, but you've just been showing the most common Grimm, we all know about them well enough, so why are you going through the trouble?" Ms. Steel turned around and fixed her glasses before responding.

"I know full and well exactly how much everyone here knows each and every Grimm. As for the reason, I am bringing you all back to the very fundamentals, Grimm biology is the first thing all Hunter or Huntress's learn, and because of that, I'm quite literally taking you back to the beginning, to essentially forge new warriors from scratch." Steel answered before she turned around, changing the papers. "But, if you want to study more uncommon Grimm, very well, consider this your study." She then replaced the images with new ones, this time the images were of a monster that had the body of a tiger, with wings emerging from its back, it also had a bird like head with a beak, and its tail was similar to a spiked club. It had white armor along its back and knees, and its Grimm mask covered both the top and bottom of its head.

"That is a Griffon, they're an uncommon species of Grimm that always travel in large hordes, they're not as fast as Nevermore's but they're deadlier, with twice as many claws and the addition of armor and spikes, the Griffon is not only tougher but stronger than Nevermore's which is a terrifying thought." Steel nodded and continued with her follow up question.

"And what of its weak points?"

"Well, unlike most Grimm the Griffon only has two spots on its body even worth attacking… because they're so durable the wings and legs are the only areas that a weapon won't be repelled from, that being said, it's not indestructible, just incredibly resilient" Sky explained and Steel changed the images again, this time the images were filled with a Snake again, it's body was different as opposed to the King Taijitu, instead it only had one head, and it had large armored fins that separated from its head, making it appear much larger than it really was, similar to a cobra, it had similar fangs to that of a King Taijitu, but it also had a long tail that was lined with spines. The ends of the tail were edged with Blades, massive blades that were about as large as the Grimm's head. Sky took a moment before responding as if trying to remember its name. "This is an Emperor Taijitu, they're similar to King Taijitu in appearance, but act very differently… for starters unlike the King an Emperor only has one head, secondly, the Emperor can spray acid from its mouth that can melt through most forms of stone, and it utilizes the giant blade along its tail for swiping attacks, to cleave away at entire areas…" Steel nodded before responding.

"And to top it all off, an Emperor has no known weak points, so in order to defeat one; you must heavily target its skull." Steel explained to the class which was now finally taking notes, the rarer and more dangerous Grimm intriguing them. "I will give you one final Grimm to identify, but I must warn you, your knowledge on this Grimm is limited at best." Sky nodded her agreement with proceeding, wanting to prove Ms. Steel wrong, and showcase her intelligence; Ms. Steel removed the images on screen and replaced them with images of a fat worm like monster. White spines emerged from its body in all directions and its tail was covered in white armor as if it was used as a club. Its mouth covered its entire front as if it was just a bottomless hole. When Sky saw the Grimm she squinted her eyes in confusion, she had recognized the monster, but never really knew much about it.

'U-uh… I, I think this one is called a…" Sky paused for a moment before resuming her speech. "Falek… yeah, it's called a Falek, they're the giant ground serpent Grimm, I believe it's a relative of the Taijitu Grimm, but almost entirely different. Falek burrows beneath the ground to navigate, and they erupt from the earth for surprise attacks on their prey…" Sky ended quickly explaining all she knew about the Grimm.

"Good memory, however, you forgot to mention that the spines along its body are for stinging prey with potent paralysis venom that can render organs inoperable… Faleks are renowned for two things, their deadliness, and their venom… if any of you are to encounter a Falek, do not try to engage, escape and get to as high ground as possible, preferably not actually on the ground." Steel made sure everyone understood the dangers of fighting a Falek before she tapped Sky on the shoulder. "Very well done Ms. Rictoshouwa, you may take your seat now." Sky nodded before standing and walking over to the rest of her team, both X and Ebony held up thumbs to congratulate her on a job well done and she smiled genuinely to her teams support. Ms. Steel turned on the lights once again and stood in front of the desk, looking out amongst the students. "Well, that's all the time we have for today, or better put, all the time I'm spending on the matter, I expect to see most of you here tomorrow at eight sharp, those of you not here tomorrow will not be allowed entry into this room any other day of the school year, so make your choice a wise one." She explained before she lit up another cigarette puffing a breath of smoke as if giving the class an out to leave on.

Team SAGE began gathering their things as the class suddenly ended on the teacher's schedule rather than the schools. In the rush to leave the classroom Ebony accidentally knocked over a notebook with a few papers on it, Sky and X both turned around to the sound of the clatter to see that Greene was already helping her gather the items off the ground, Sky narrowed her eyes towards him and X simply placed his hand on her shoulder, understanding that she lost this time. By the time they all managed to reach the doorway, Jaye from team JADD ran over to get their attention.

"Hey, you guys wanna sit with us at lunch today?" Jaye suggested, his dark green eyes glancing towards them all the four of them barely exchanged a glance before they came to an agreement

"Sure, no point in not becoming allies with another team" Sky answered critically, making it seem as though making friends was a business deal of some kind. And with that, the other members of team JADD began to catch up as they all left the classroom in search for the cafeteria.

Authors note: Hey guys, sorry for this chapter being exposition, I promise to give you guys at least some action in the next chapter, but at the same time I don't promise anything XD guess you'll just have to read it and see for yourself


	10. Chapter 9

_Authors Notes: Hey guys, I'll make sure to at least include some action in this chapter, but I can't guarantee anything, it'll be a bit more development for a bit before I jump into the more intense arcs. Anyway, ONTO THE CHAPTER_

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

Team SAGE and JADD walked together through the halls towards the cafeteria, X held his hands in his pockets, occasionally running his hand over his back pocket just to ensure that his journal was still safely secured. Jaye and Daisy were talking with Sky and Greene meanwhile X and Ebony were hanging back behind the four of them, walking next to Denim and Amber. X smirked as he glanced over towards Denim, who was obviously taking precaution not to attract his attention.

"Denim, isn't it?" X questioned trying to break the ice with a smug smirk and a smooth voice. She rolled her eyes into position to glare at him without moving her head.

"It's none of your business," She said with a humph before she crossed her arms propping her head away in annoyance, Amber seemed to notice and she placed a hand on Denim's shoulder which seemed to only annoy Denim more.

"My, my, you seemed a lot more interested in me during initiation, where's the curiosity I saw that day?" X teased trying to get under her skin and annoy her since she obviously didn't want to play easy. Denim seemed to get angry as her eyebrows furrowed, her jaw jutting to the side as a slight blush rose along her cheek.

"I wasn't looking at you, I was just glancing around is all, and since you wouldn't stop staring at me eventually I looked your way, you're just another creep, and now you're acting like it was my fault." Denim explains in annoyance as she tightened her arms around her chest, obviously mad about something but X couldn't quite understand what, Amber seemed to tighten her grip on Denim's shoulder and she slowly shook her head as if telling Denim to cool down, which she replied with a simple roll of her eyes.

"That's what they all say sweet-heart, two can play at this game," X said winking towards Denim cockily and she narrowed her vision at him to let him know that she wasn't in the mood for his games. Ebony saw the moment as one to cut in and took it before anything else was said between the two.

"So, I presume you and Amber are partners then?" Ebony asked plainly, amber nodded shyly and Denim seemed to answer for the two of them.

"Yes… Amber and I are partners, and Jaye and Daisy are partners, although, sometimes I wonder if we were dealt the short end of the stick as far as a team goes…" Denim stated obviously referring to Jaye and Daisy, unclear as to which one of the two. But for some reason Amber lowered her hand and head slightly, her bat-like ears lowering against her head as if she took the insult to heart. Denim noticed and she immediately placed her arm around her holding onto her shoulder. "Not with my partner though, this little rascal is going to pull this team through the dirt." Denim praised, obviously trying to make up for hurting her feelings with an on-the-spot compliment. Amber seemed a bit happier but still kept herself out of attention, obviously being shyer in comparison to the rest of her team.

Not long after they finally reached the cafeteria, several dozen students were already moving from tables to the line, finding spots to claim for the rest of their school life. Everyone immediately headed towards the line but Amber slowed down and lightly tugged on Denim's sleeve, Denim stopped in place before calling out to her teammates and team SAGE

"Hey, Amber and I are going to find us all a seat, we'll get lunch once the line is smaller" Denim explained as she and Amber headed towards the rows of tables that filled the spacious and open cafeteria. X quickly waved at his team before following both of them, and Ebony seemed to follow him, explaining that they wanted to make sure that there would be enough seats for all of them. X quickly caught up with Denim who sighed in annoyance as if she could sense his presence. "You know, when a girl wants to be left alone, you don't stalk her…" She stated as she walked through the rows of tables

"You'd be the one to know about stalking, wouldn't you?" X quickly retorted and Denim growled in anger, her cheeks reddening, X was unsure as to whether or not it was because of her anger.

"I wasn't stalking you, that hardly counts as staring, sheesh" Denim quickly fought back defending her from being labeled a stalker but X raised an eyebrow and smirked at her comment.

"I thought you said you weren't looking at me" He explained casually with a shit-eating grin plastered across his face, Denim reared back slightly hesitant on how to respond as her face heated almost instantly embarrassed that he called out her bluff.

"Shut the fuck up, god, you're so annoying" Denim fell back on generic insults as she continued walking, slightly faster now than before, as she stopped near a set of open table sitting down and forcing Amber to sit between her and X so that he couldn't annoy her anymore. As X sat down next to Amber, Denim stood and stopped Ebony, bringing her a couple feet away from the other two, wanting to talk in private. "Ebony, right?" Ebony nodded, confused at the situation "I have a question… and I know it's weird and rude, but, I really need to know… is it normal for you guys to not like talking?" Denim asked sincerely obviously worried about something but Ebony couldn't quite understand what she meant.

"Do you mean us Faunus?" Denim nodded hesitantly, unsure if it will offend her, Ebony nodded her head in understanding as she then thought about it, replying cautiously "Well, it's not uncommon… it's weird, a lot of Faunus, especially those like myself, prefer to stay quiet rather than be talkative…" Denim tilted her head not seeming to understand.

"What do you mean? Why?" Denim probed Ebony for answers and Ebony thought how to respond for a moment before she spoke as if it was difficult to explain.

"Have you ever had a ringing in your ears? Like from firing a weapon, or from a close explosion?" Denim nodded, after all, the life of a Huntress was no easy life, but with the agreement, Ebony continued "Well, for us Faunus, there's' this… humming… it's not that loud, and it's not really that noticeable, but depending on the Faunus, it can be extremely annoying" Ebony explained and Denim scrunched her face in confusion, having never heard of such a thing. "It's hard to explain, but even if a Faunus doesn't have huge wolf ears, all of our senses are higher than Humans, so, almost all of us hear it, just at different volumes…" at this point X was already walking into their make-shift huddle.

"You talking about the hum? Yeah, I hear it too, it's constant man, but you get over it eventually" X somehow managed to fully understand the conversation that he wasn't involved in, and Denim seemed both annoyed and concerned at his presence.

"How did you know what we're talking about?" Denim questioned him and both he and Ebony looked at her as if it was a stupid question.

"If you were trying to keep this private, you should have left the building, a dozen feet isn't going to both us Faunus the slightest, Amber can definitely hear you right now" X explained casually, as if he was talking down to her, at the moment her name was mentioned Amber glanced back slightly as if acknowledging that she could hear the conversation clearly. Denim sighed a breath of annoyance and Ebony tilted her head slightly.

"Wait, does Amber not like to talk?" Ebony seeming to have finally put two and two together, Denim nodded sarcastically as if it was obvious, and Ebony walked back over to Amber sitting next to her "Amber, I understand what you're going through, my sister has to deal with it as well… do you know Sign?" Ebony asked sweetly smiling softly towards Amber as If she were a child, Amber seemed to light up at the question, nodding her head and moving her hands in random shapes rapidly. Both X and Denim stared not understanding what she was doing at all.

"Amber said that she's been mute for most of her life, she's just like my little sister, she can talk if she wanted to, but prefers to sign." Ebony explained as she looked up from the series of hand signs to Denim, who looked from Ebony back to Amber, smiling gently before replying.

"Alright, Amber… I'll learn Sign and translate for you ok? After all, you're my partner; it's my duty to make sure we work efficiently, in the meantime, try to cheer up, we'll do great as a team I already know." Denim informed Amber, and her eyes seemed to light up with joy, of course, it was still filled with sorrow, but in the current moment, the joy was all that mattered, Ebony and X smiled to one another, seeing a pair of partners get closer together. At the same time the other four finally arrived at the table, with food trays in hand, Jaye and Daisy sat opposite of Amber and Denim, Sky and Greene sitting next to them.

"We miss something important?" Jaye questioned breaking the peaceful silence and both Denim and Amber stood, whereas Ebony sat down across from Greene and Sky.

"Not really, we're going to go ahead and get some food" Denim answered for the pair of them and Amber smiled softly nodding her agreement, X placed his hands on the back of his head and began to follow the two before he noticed that Ebony wasn't following.

"Hey Eb, aren't you gunna get something too?" X called out to her but she simply waved her hand with a loose smile.

"No thank you, I'm not all that hungry at the moment" Ebony explained and X just shrugged it off, as he began to walk away with the two others.

Ebony sat across from all four of the others as they awkwardly ate at their food, not having much to bring up as far as conversation went. Ebony smiled and tried to break the silence "Well, what does everyone think about Ms. Steel?" Ebony inquired about their new teacher from her fellow classmates, and they all seemed to get lost in thought, until finally, Daisy responded.

"She's… Efficient" Daisy explained simply, with a bland expression, Sky smiled before she replied.

"I like her, she's quick to point out flaws, and doesn't beat around the bush, immediately after she wanted to truly test my knowledge on Grimm she pulled up two I barely know about… it's not just that either, it's the way she addresses every situation like she's always one step ahead of everyone" Greene and Daisy both nodded but Jaye didn't seem to agree with her thought.

"Well if you ask me, she's a bitch, seriously, I know she's a teacher and all, but where does she get off telling us that we're all stupid? Well, if she thinks that I don't know how my own semblance works, she's got another thing coming" Jaye ranted slightly standing in his seat to emphasize his feelings, plopping back down once he finished. Everyone seemed to understand where he was coming from but didn't agree with him on the matter. A few students began to walk back towards the lunch line, Ebony immediately assumed it was simply for seconds and she resumed her conversation with her new found friends.

"Although I will say that she hasn't really taught us anything, she just asked if we knew about some of the most common Grimm, except for the last two… I've never even heard of a Falek before, I'm surprised you knew so much about them Sky" Ebony complimented Sky, and everyone else seemed to chime in as Sky lowered her head sheepishly

"Yeah, it's like some kind of giant worm right? Or at least, that's what it looked like" Jaye commented.

"Technically it has a similar appearance, but I wouldn't compare that monster to something as harmless as a worm" Daisy added in, correcting Jaye, Greene simply nodded in reply to Daisy's comment, at this point students began rushing towards the lunch line.

"Well, I…" Sky meekly answered as a loud thud drew their attention away from the conversation and to the crowd of students that were gathering near the lunch line.

"What's going on?" Ebony wondered aloud and Sky closed her eyes, using her semblance to search through the minds of the crowds to try to understand the situation, she raised her head with a worried look. "What is it Sky?"

"It's X, he's causing trouble" they all exchanged glances before quickly pushing their way through the crowd to the front to see that X was standing over another student, the other student was wearing the casual male uniform, his green hair falling down his front, covering his pale brown eyes. The student was lying against a flipped table and both of them seemed pissed beyond reason. The other student quickly stood and tightened his fists

"What the hell was that for!?" he said wiping his chin as if he had been struck, X scowled at the man and tightened his own fists, one of which was slightly reddened.

"Take it back… Now" X commanded in a low threatening tone, a voice none of his team had heard before, they had yet to see him in combat, but they knew not even the creatures of Grimm could cause a reaction like this.

"Take what back? The truth? You know I'm right, you're just too scared to admit it" the other student replied, his anger as obvious as X's who just growled in return.

"Take…It…Back" X demanded through grit locked teeth, the other student simply stared him down and suddenly both of their auras became active, as both the red patches on X's fist and the student's chin immediately healed.

"And what if I don't?" The student challenged and X lowered his head slightly making his gaze as deadly X took a step closer before responding.

"If you call her an animal one more time, I'll show you _Exactly_ why animals are on the top of the food chain" X seemed very indignant at the way 'She' was being treated. The student growled in return.

"Anima-"his insult was cut off as a string of electricity reached out and shocked the student before a bolt of lightning struck through the roof and caused a small explosion atop the student. The crowd stumbled back from the attack, and the student was thrown into the table, breaking it into pieces. Splinters of wood and stone filled the floor surrounding them as X began to take steps forward.

"ASSHOLE! You almost broke through my aura, what if you did huh!?" The other student shouted back at X who stopped moving for a second, suddenly Sky's scroll went off, she opened it up to see that X's aura had all of a sudden dropped to the red; she noticed that Ebony and Greene also pulled out their scrolls to see the same. Sky knew something was wrong, no semblance would use up Hunter's entire aura in one shot. But her answer came to her when the other student took a step back looking at his hands, as a white glow surrounded him, as if his aura was refilled, but in the same instant another string of electricity reached out and latched onto the student, sapping away at his aura until another strike of lightning blew a hole in the roof to reach the student. This time the student was sent directly into the ground, and all could see the exact moment that his Aura broke, the shudder of color breaking into pieces around his body, leaving him completely defenseless. X took a few steps forward until he was directly in front of the other student, when he raised his head shakily X kicked his foot forward, his weapon unsheathing and folding out around his feet, the bladed wheels came inches from the student's face. X didn't speak a word, none was needed in the moment, X had complete control of whether the boy would live or die in that situation, or he did until he was suddenly thrown into a nearby wall away from the other students, a flash of white breaking around his body as his Aura broke as well.

"That is enough children… we wouldn't want any injuries within the first week would we?" came a voice from the crowd as Glynda Goodwitch emerged from it, holding her whip-like wand in her hand. She waved her wand and flared her aura and suddenly the pieces of stone moved back into position and flew back to fix the two holes in the ceiling, the table flipped back and seemed to repair itself. Ebony turned her head slightly to Sky.

"Telekinesis, that's her semblance." Sky explained and Ebony raised her head in understanding. Glynda stood in the center of the crowd next to the boy who was laid out on his stomach.

"All of you are dismissed, please return to your regularly scheduled activities… as for you two, I will be seeing you both in detention" and with that, she took her stride out of the cafeteria hall and three other students swarmed the one on the ground, helping him up and out of the room, which now only held team SAGE, JADD and a few straggling students. X managed to stand up, sheathing his one skate and walking towards the door, holding his hands in his pockets. For a second Ebony began to go after him, but Greene placed his hand onto her shoulder and shook his head; her ears sunk but she understood it was best to leave him be. Sky turned towards Amber and Denim who were conversing with Jaye and Daisy.

"What the hell was that?" Sky asked both upset and confused, Amber seemed to shrink more than normal at the question and Denim seemed to just get angry.

"That moron decided to act like a hero" Denim answered obviously angry about the scene that he had caused, Sky slightly recoiled from her answer, not expecting that to be how the situation had started.

"Act like a hero? What do you mean?" at this point both Ebony and Greene were staring as well, wanting to know the answer, Denim rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest before answering

"The guy was making fun of him because he was literally a 'Pussy' and at first he seemed to be playing along with them, probably to get them to go away, then the guy made a comment about how Ozpin had to let people like Amber and him in because they were animals, and Ozpin didn't want to seem racist or something, and of course the next thing you know X is laying the guy out…" Denim explained, her tone shifting from one of anger to casual, the three of them turned around to watch as X finally reached the door, he didn't bother to turn around while he left the room. Both team SAGE and team JADD stood silent for several long minutes before separating, heading towards their individual classes.

* * *

 _Three weeks later_

* * *

' _New Entry: It's been nearly a month now and Ms. Steel is seriously getting on my nerves. Sure Grimmology is an important course, but to be going this in depth about it for this long? And she's still only been covering things most of us already know! Besides, why would I ever need to know that an Alpha Ursai is more likely to be alone during the summer than during the winter? If I encounter one, it'll either be surrounded or not, so what's the point in fussing over it?'_

X jotted down his thoughts into the pages of his journal as they went through his mind.

' _We haven't even had any sparring sessions other than in my specific course, from what I hear team Jade is starting to get more popular, people keep saying that they'll be a prodigy team. The one good thing that I'm excited for is that next week we have a scheduled mission, like a real mission, it's going to be awesome!'_

He smirked at his own writings, feeling the same excitement outside the realm of words. The feeling of Sky's hand slapping across the back of his head brought him back to reality, as he sat leaning back in his seat, his feet atop the edge of the long desk that stretched in front of their row, he sat up and brought his feet down in front of himself and placed his journal in front of him continuing to write in it, waiting for Ms. Steel to arrive.

' _Plus Sky is being a real bitch, she's kinda strict on everything and yet we always have to wake her lazy ass up in the mornings. Shit, Steel's her-'_ his journal entry was cut short as Ms. Steel entered the classroom, holding her scroll in one hand a cigarette in another, it seemed that every day with her started the same, she would make them wait ten minutes until she eventually came out, and then make them wait even longer when she finally did. Today, however, she seemed to ignore her normal routine because once she reached her desk she immediately placed her scroll down on it and leaned against it holding her right arm across her chest and her left being held up by her right with a cigarette in it. She took a puff of smoke before speaking to the class.

"Ok, so as you all know, I had another 'Group' of students… Well in truth I had five other groups…" Murmurings ran through the class before attention was drawn back to her voice. "Yeah Yeah, I lied, so what? It's not like any of you even cared… Anyway, as of yesterday two of the groups only had one team each, so I'm now merging some of the groups… so as of tomorrow, you'll all have two new teams to get acquainted with" She took a deep breath into her cigarette, the red edge blazing down the length, burning away at the material. Removing her mouth from the end, smoke seeped out her mouth until she eventually blew it out. "Regarding lessons for today, I'll just give you the day of..." Small cheers ran through the groups, although nothing she had been teaching them was exhausting, a day off to any student regardless of the class is exciting. That was until she cut back in… "IF, anyone is able to answer three questions in a row" the cheers suddenly stopped, if there were two things they knew about her so far, it was that she knew everything, and to her, no one else knew anything. "You all have made it quite clear that you think I'm going to in depth with my teaching, most of you believe it would be better if I just had you all spar off against one another, after all this is a combat school, so why wouldn't we all just fight every second…" She was obviously making fun of the suggestion as if it was a terrible idea. "Tell you what, I'll even sweeten the deal… if anyone here wants to go for five questions, then their team will decide the entire course for next week." Chatting and conversations ran rampant through the class at the idea of being able to stop talking about Grimm constantly. Hands from every team raised almost instantly, including Sky and Ebony's X simply not wanting to participate, and Greene not having a tendency to speak didn't feel it was his place.

Steel looked over the room before nodding towards team PSTA "Ok, Titania, would you like three or five questions?" Titania stood up and everyone else's hands fell back to their desks.

"I'll take all five" She seemed extremely confident with herself and Ms. Steel seemed impressed with the response, Steel stood up, pushing away from the desk, she plunged the cigarette into a pile of others that sat dormant in her tray on her desk. She walked over towards the projector like device and shifted through the papers under it.

"Alright, well, first question, What Natural occurring creature does the 'Mogwai' resemble the most?" Ms. Steel faced her down holding a piece of paper in her hand, Titania stood completely still, her mouth slightly open and a shadow of doubt cast over her face, her entire team sighed as they realized just who had been chosen for the question.

"Isn't she the dumb one on their team?" X pointed out to Sky who simply sighed and held her head in response to the situation.

"u-uh… could I get a different question?" Titania asked meekly, knowing that she had no idea what a 'Mogwai' was. Ms. Steel placed the paper onto the projector and images of a Grimm appeared on the screen. The monster was nearly twenty feet tall; it had six armored legs and an armored exo-skeleton like body. It looked almost identical to a 'Preying Mantis' but rather than the more common breed, it looked similar to the Indolomantis. The images showed the Grimm to also have hidden wings under its shell-like carapace, allowing it the ability of flight.

"This is a Mogwai, the Mantis Grimm… and no, you may not, next?" Titania sunk her head in shame as she slowly lowered her body back to her seat. Sky shook her head in dismay.

"I don't think anyone will get past the first question, I didn't even know about Mogwai until just now…" X turned towards her with a look of complete confusion.

"What? You've never fought a Mogwai before?" Perhaps he had said that a bit too loud as attention was drawn to him from every student in the room. He looked up from Sky to see all eyes on him and his ears sank slightly "uh… what?"

"You fought one of those things before?" Jaye from team JADD shouted across the room, and as he looked up towards them Denim immediately turned away, but he didn't care about that right now.

"Uh, yeah, they're pretty common over in Mistral…" He said with a casual tone, and everyone looked at him with surprise, other than Ms. Steel of course, who simply nodded

"Mr…. X… has encountered several Mogwai in his lifetime, only one of which he did not kill" Attention flipped to Ms. Steel only for a moment before going back on X, but while the class was murmuring about how he was able to kill even one of them X started focusing his eyes on Ms. Steel.

"Hey… how, how did you know that?" The chatting stopped when X sat forward and questioned Steel firmly. She raised an eyebrow and smirked slightly at his question. She brought her hand up to her glasses and fixed them in place before responding.

"That is a discussion for another day… for right now, I need another student to volunteer for questioning" She explained dodging the question, soon enough attention was brought back to the class and several students began rising and lowering immediately failing the first question Ms. Steel asked them, yet for the most part each question she asked seemed to be fairly easy questions that most of the students knew, but it just so happened that none of the students answering knew the crucial information that they needed. Eventually, Sky stood up and Steel thought for a moment, "Ms. Rictoshouwa… what are the key differences between a common Mogwai, and an Alpha Mogwai?" Ms. Steel questioned her on a subject everyone knew she didn't know about, based on her claim before, but Sky smirked as suddenly X felt her voice inside his head.

" _Hey, you know this right?"_ the class watched her as she just stood there, X smirked and closed his eyes, copying Sky's semblance he was able to reply to her _"Yeah, an Alpha has darker armor, and it's slower because it's got armor covering it's joints. So it's more of a tank than anything else"_ X quickly replied, following along with her plan. Sky grinned and nodded her thanks to X before speaking up "The Alpha Mogwai has more armor around the joints of it's body, and it's easily distinguishable from the common type because its armor is darker in color" for the first time since they had seen her, Steel smiled, she seemed more proud than impressed, as if she had expected Sky to know the answer.

"Correct… So, on average, how often do Creeps emerge from their dens to look for new dens?" Attention was drawn back to Sky. Suddenly Greene felt X's voice inside his head _"Greene, it's me, X, Sky needs to know the answer, so if you know it, think about it"_ Greene turned towards both of them and they both nodded, so Greene nodded in return thinking to himself repeatedly about the answer

"Creeps usually follow a six-month pattern. So normally they migrate twice a year, the first time only a third of the group leaves to try and find a new den, then the second migration includes all the Alpha's and Beta's which is an incredibly deadly force to reckon with." Sky answered expertly and Steel smirked right back at Sky's smug expression, both of them seem to know that the game was on.

"Very good Ms. Rictoshouwa… now… How many times has Titania from Team Pasta been insulted due to her Faunus heritage?" The entire class stood silently at the question, normally the teachers of Beacon never acknowledged the problem of Faunus discrimination, most likely to try to create a discrimination-free environment, but more than that, Ms. Steel had seemed to ask her an impossible question; there was no way that neither Ms. Steel nor Sky could know the answer to said question, and yet, both of them seemed to know the answer before it was even spoken.

"Too many to count properly… but if you want me to give you an exact number, I'll wager around the two-hundreds mark… give or take a few instances" Attention was drawn to Sky as she answered almost immediately, it was easy for Sky seeing as how the question riled up all of the memories within Titania, making them easy to read, and Steel continued with the questionnaire as if it was a normal question for her to have known.

"Correct, the exact number is two hundred and thirty-four, but I'll give you some leeway since I didn't specify exactly how many… now, exactly how many Beowolves has Jaye slain? Including Alphas and Betas, but not including Younglings." The students at this point were at a complete loss for words, as Sky and Steel pitted off against one another in a game of mind.

It took several minuets and the class was starting to get restless, but Sky stood completely still, staring at Jaye the entire time. "Hey, Sky, you ok? You've been in there a good while now" X asked her quietly trying not to let the class know about her semblance. Suddenly her voice called out to him from inside his own head. _"Yeah, it's just that I have to count every single kill… it's a lot to go through"_ X nodded his head in understanding and a few moments passed by again until she eventually let her gaze fall from Jaye and a deep sigh of exhaustion fell out of her, she was breathing slightly heavier, and Ebony checked her scroll, Sky's aura had already dropped into the yellow, but it was understandable for what she had just done.

"I know the answer…" Sky was able to get out and everyone sat on the edge of their seats, Steel simply raising her eyebrow in response "Jaye has four-hundred and eighty-two confirmed Beowulf kills…" The class joined together in a gasp of shock, directed towards both Sky and Jaye, Four hundred was pretty low in comparison to a Huntsman, or Huntress, but to a student in training, it was pretty high.

"Well… technically he has four-hundred and eighty-four, but the two I am referring to the time he shot through forestry trying to hunt a fleeing pack… I'm sure you know which event I'm talking about, but still I'll give you a pass since that question was a bit taxing on you…" no one knew how to respond to the circumstance, even the people she was asking about didn't know the answers to the questions, and yet somehow both of them did. "Last question… get this one right, and your team can choose the schedule for next week." Sky gulped as she knew her aura would last forever if it was another numbers game, she didn't know if she could complete it. "What… Is Professor Ozpin's Semblance?" Steel smirked after voicing the question, and everyone including Sky this time recoiled from it, her eyes went slightly wider, as she knew it would be impossible to find the answer to the question not from the other students at least, so she focused her gaze on Ms. Steel but almost immediately after Steel interrupted her. "And, don't bother with me, I don't know the answer to this question" Ms. Steel informed her, ruining her plans, but she then realized the situation with the questioner not knowing the answer.

"Wait, if you don't know the answer, how would you know if I got it right or not?" Sky asked, confused as to how that would work.

"It's simple, I may not know the answer, but I know whether or not you know the answer, so therefore, if I know you know the answer, you'll answer correctly…" Ms. Steel answered her confidently as if it was her plan all along. Sky didn't know what to do, she didn't see Ozpin in the room, and even if she did, unless he was currently thinking about his semblance it would be near impossible to find it. She eventually lowered her head and blew out a sigh, before sitting in her chair

"I apologize; I do not know the answer to this question…" The entire class let out voices of annoyance in groans and confusion.

"Do not feel bad Ms. Rictoshouwa, you have managed to answer four of Five questions, no one else here was able to answer one… therefore, you have the choice as to whether or not we will be learning more of My choice, or if you would like a day off… so, what do you say?" Sky raised her head, thought to herself for a moment and looked back to Ms. Steel

"M- uh.. Steel, I would like for you to teach us more…" evil gazes shot towards her and she could feel the heat of hell itself blazing against her as all of her class-mates glared angrily at her, Ms. Steel nodded before speaking in response to Sky's choice

"Very well, I will continue to teach you all what you need to know to become proper Huntsman and Huntresses, but I will continue to teach you all tomorrow, take the rest of the day off, you all seem ready for a break from Grimmology anyway." Steel managed to save Sky the wrath of her classmates and quickly dismissed them all to the lunchroom.

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 _Authors notes: Hey, barely got this one done, so that's why it has a bit of a rushed ending, also I have to apologize for that whole "Three week time-skip" thing. I was planning on doing it a bit better, but it just felt awkward while I was making it… anyway, we got some more important information about all the characters, got to see X go ballistic on another student, just because he called Amber an animal, plus we saw X use up all of his remaining semblances, so now he's a clean slate, I wonder what kind of Semblances he'll copy in the future. We also got to see more of Ms. Steel, the mysterious transfer Trainer that moves from School to School, something's fishy about her for sure, Leave reviews about your theories regarding her. But that's enough of my rambling recap. Look forward to the Next chapter next week when we get back into the action, when the class goes on an official first-year mission. Seeya then_


	11. Chapter 10

_Authors Notes: Hey, so right away I'm going to take this time to clear a few things up, because I know I have issues with properly explaining things… first off, X's semblance, it's confusing I know, so basically put, X can copy up to three semblances, each with three 'Charges' so at max he can hold up to 9 semblance uses, at a time that is. Once he sees a semblance he can copy it, regardless of how long ago that experience was. Currently, he has no semblances, simply because he used up all of them in the previous chapter whilst dealing with the bully and communicating with Sky via telepathy. So hope that makes more sense now. Another thing I need to clear up is some of the Grimm, most of the Grimm you can simply Google search the names for and you'll get some images to help. But others like the Falek and the Emperor Taijitu, you won't be able to, so for those two and others to come, I'll try to explain them more in depth. Imagine Falek as Graboids from the "Tremors" series, only without the tongue mouth things, and imagine Emperors' as giant Cobras. Again, hope that clears stuff up. Anyway ONTO THE CHAPTER!_

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Chapter 10

"AAAHHH!" X cried out in frustration, gripping his head and screaming into the air. It quickly drew the attention of everyone else that walked along the top of the wall. He was walking behind the rest of his team but in front of half of the rest of the class. Both team SMKE and team SHDE didn't seem to be taking the 'mission' seriously, as they fell behind all the other teams on the path. Contrary to them, the two new teams, team BLST, and team STAR led the group, both teams were higher years so they most likely wanted to set an example for all the first years.

"What's with the complaining now?" Sky nagged X annoyed that he continued to express his feelings towards their situation. Sky like everyone else was in her full combat gear, and she had her weapon holstered at her side. Team JADD was within earshot, being just behind them, so of course, Jaye had to interject and voice his own opinions on the matter.

"This lousy mission probably has him annoyed too, I mean seriously, why do they need an entire class of hunters to walk the wall on Guard duty? That's why we have the auto-turrets" Jaye explained his frustration with their assigned mission. Throughout the prior week both X and Jaye had been concocting ideas of what the mission could be, perhaps a hunt of some kind, maybe a spy mission against an unknown force and their wildest idea was that they were to track down and kill a giant monster, Grimm. Of course, these were all childlike dreams more so than reality, and when they were finally briefed on their mission they were disheartened to know that it was as simple as guarding the wall that protected Vale from the creatures of Grimm.

"Exactly! Like C'mon, this is a baby job, I want a big boy job" X complained with his arms crossed and a pout. Sky simply sighed in annoyance to their responses and Ebony giggled lightly at their child-like behavior.

"You two dimwits wouldn't know what to do if we were in an actual high stakes mission, it's better this way, so people like you wouldn't end up dead" Denim quickly added into the conversation, making it clear that she didn't enjoy their banter in the slightest. Both X and Jaye scowled at Denim who held her head up and her eyes closed as if she was stating that she wasn't going to budge on her statement.

Since they were all on an official mission, the entire class had been outfitted in their combat clothing, as well as having their weapons holstered on their person. This was the first time since school began that Sky had seen any of team JADD's weapons. Jaye was obviously proud of his as he carried a thin bat-like weapon across the top of his shoulders, his two hands resting in place over the top of it. The bat itself was rather thin, and the top seemed to have an extra section added, most likely for some kind of ranged use. Daisy who was walking just beside to the back of Jaye had her weapon in it's sheathed form, attached to her back, making it difficult to see or guess what it was. They had mentioned before that she used an ax-like weapon, and that much could be seen from the larger curved blade. Denim who was walking at a brisk pace next to Jaye and almost behind Sky had her weapon holstered at her side. At first glance it didn't look like much, it almost looked like a basic submachine gun, but to an experienced eye, it was obvious that the sheathed form meant nothing to the true intents of the weapon. The barrel was closer to a launcher style of weapon rather than a traditional bullet style. Sky estimated that her weapon was something of a battle-ax and launcher weapon. Lastly Amber walked furthest behind the group, walking close enough that she wasn't involved with the group behind them, but far enough back that she wasn't really involved in their group either. Timidly she was fiddling with her hands, and the fidgeting motion made the sheathed blade swing back and forth from its position on her back. It was clear she used some form of a sword style weapon, but its other forms would be unclear until full deployment. Noting what she could about team JADD's weapons, she turned back forward only for a brief moment when she heard the idiot beside her speak again.

"Ugh, I want to fight something already, just walking the wall is boring!" X complained, drooping his shoulders low, and hanging his head in annoyance. He dragged his feet with every step, and even though no one seemed happy about their assignment, he seemed the most frustrated with it. With the recent outburst, Jaye seemed to have a gleam in his eye, one that held a bad idea with it.

"Well X, if you're so eager to fight something… want to one v one?" Jaye declared his challenge loud enough that everyone could hear, and nearly at the same moment every student stopped in their tracks and turned their attention to the two of them. X looked confused at first but a sly smirk quickly replaced the look on his face.

"Now you're talking, alright, I'll take you and your wimpy stick on" X turned to face Jaye, his cat ears perked up proudly as if the excitement was literally going to his head. Jaye removed his hands from their positions; gripping the bat in his right hand he flipped it around a few times, before resting the top of it against his shoulder.

"So how do you want to do this? Weapons and Semblances included or is this a fisticuffs?" Jaye questioned X trying to negotiate the rules of their spar. X grinned crossing his arms in confidence, at this point the rest of the teams had already gathered around forming a makeshift fighting ring.

"Hey, hey hey! You two can't fight up here, we're three stories up, and this is government property…" Sky announced as she barged into the center of the two, ruining the fun that was being riled up by the other students. X and Jaye both exchanged glares towards Sky but a new voice from team BLST spoke up.

"Well, if you're worried about the space and the property… why don't we just take a shaft down to the outside of the wall?" Brow, leader of team BLST questioned, trying to make a compromise towards her complaints. The crowd of students seemed to enjoy the idea and Sky could only sigh in annoyance at the suggestion. Once decided everyone split into groups, taking two of the elevator like rides down to the ground level on the outside of the wall. Everyone except for Jaye and X stood back near the shafts to watch, Jaye and X both walked a good distance away from everyone. Suddenly Greene and Denim appeared between X and Jaye, utilizing Greene's semblance.

"Alright, we all want a clean fight, weapons and semblances are allowed, the fight ends when one is left with their aura in the red… that being said, I think you both are complete morons for doing something like this" Denim announced the rules and her personal opinion on the matter before raising her hand into the air. Both X and Jaye took their own measures to prepare for the first move.

X took the time to fold out his two skates, they moved into position over his feet and formed his weapons, he dropped to the ground, holding his right foot under him in a knelt position, and his left foot behind him with the spike on the front of his skates digging into the ground, he held the ground with his hands and looked up watching Jaye's movement, in his stance he looked more like a feral animal than a hunter in training.

Jaye quickly held his bat into position, twisting the handle the top section of the bat seemed to open up, a black rubber-like sheet fell out, covering the bat in a loose covering. Jaye then seemed to twist the small counterweight at the bottom of the bat's handle, and slowly the covering seemed to fill up and expand until it was tight, with the covering now tight, the bat looked similar to a normal looking baseball bat. Jaye gripped the handle firmly and awaited the move of his team-mates hand.

After they had gotten situated Denim shook her head disapprovingly before throwing her arm down towards the floor at the same time everyone cheered in excitement, as soon as the sound reached the two of them Greene and Denim were already gone, having used Greene's semblance to quickly get out of their way.

In a fight like this, the first move was always important, it would determine who held the initiative for the first bout, and was where the fighters would learn the tricks of each others fighting styles. Once allowed, X pushed off from his position, the wheels on his skates rapidly spinning under him, starting to gain him traction and speed, his first move was a simple mad-dash towards Jaye, it seemed he wanted to get as close as quickly as possible. Jaye smirked at the move, as he twisted the handle back, the rubber covering retreating back into position in its container at the top of the bat, with the cover removed the actual bat was now visible, but all anyone could see was a dark brown bat with a mist like appearance flowing off of it. Sky and X both quickly reacted, eyes going wide, and X changing course to try and get to his side rather than his front. But it was already too late, Jaye slammed the bat into the ground and a massive shockwave rippled through it, erupting the earth in a direct path towards X.

"SHIT!" X shouted in surprise as he jumped forward when suddenly a small explosion like sound erupted from his skates. He had fired a kinetic round from the front of his skates to allow him a higher jump to avoid the rippling ground that was sent his way in Jaye's first strike. He spun when he landed, watching as the shockwave continued for a few seconds longer, ripping up the ground in its path. Jaye chuckled lightly as he brought his bat back up to his shoulder.

"That's a pure dust weapon… no wonder it looked so weird before, he uses synthetic dust crystals to create the body of his bat…" Sky analyzed to herself as she observed the ongoing fight. Sky then noticed that due to the impact a section of the dust body had been broken, leaving a shattered section in its place, of course, the rest of the bat was still intact, however. "Dust formed weapons may be significantly more powerful to traditional style weapons, but they're also incredibly fragile," Sky spoke once more explaining to herself the cause of the broken area.

X quickly started skating towards Jaye once again, his motors kicking in and letting him close the gap quickly. Jaye grabbed the handle with both hands and forced the top of the bat down towards the ground, the entire dust body shattered in one move but in the same instant, the dust instantly formed a large stone wall in front of Jaye. X's eyes shot open for a second time and a wave of gasps rose amongst the students. X chose to keep forward, a plan forming in his head. Jaye immediately brought the cover over his bat once more, letting it fill with the dust to form a new bat, the moment it finished he retracted the cover and began an upwards swing. Crimson flared through the eyes of the audience as a bright red bat flew through the air and struck solidly against the wall formed in front of him. X at this point was nearly on top of the wall when suddenly the entire thing changed from a solid dark brown to a fractured brown, red seeping through the cracks. X threw a hook forward as the wall exploded in a flurry of jagged stones and spiked rocks. Jaye finished through with his swing, nearly half of the bat breaking away in the single strike, but he couldn't argue with results, the single strike had caused the entire wall to act like a large claymore, exploding forward and sending a whirlwind of fragments towards its target. X twisted to the side, the shrapnel flying towards him, he had barely made it out of the field of stones before his hook line caught, sending him in a turn directly towards Jaye. He was surprised that X was able to escape the range of the attack, but given that he had his motorized skates it wasn't impossible, this is not to say that X escaped unscathed. During his dash, several of the smaller and faster moving rocks did manage to nick his aura a bit.

Jaye quickly gripped his bat with his right hand and reached into his pack with his left. In one motion he managed to pull out a small brown dust crystal and swung his bat to impact against it, a small chunk of the bat broke off and the crystal quickly reacted with the impact. X watched as a small blast of molten rock flew towards him, he reacted by firing a kinetic shot from both the front of his right skate and the back of his left, forcing him to spin in motion, allowing the attack to fly past him in the twisting motion. The opening gave X the chance he needed to get in close, and as he approached Jaye he dashed to the side, spinning to deliver a killer kick as he fired an explosive round from his kicking foot at the same instant in an attempt to deal as much damage as possible. Jaye moved his arms to his side to try to block, bringing his weapon up along with them, the explosion reacted with the red dust bat and caused a chain reaction of explosions that blew them both apart, draining both of them from their aura.

The bystanders looked on in shock as the impact threw them both apart, Sky reacted when she noticed that the large explosion caused X's aura to dive into the lower yellow, and Daisy pulled her scroll up as well to see that the same could be said for Jaye. It was neck and neck, both in deep yellow with barely any aura left until they dipped into the red. Jaye used his thin bat to help him stand, all the dust having been lost due to the reaction, he watched as X stood on his own, across from him. They both stared each other down, at this point almost any attack would work to win the fight, so they both knew that their ranged attacks were preferable due to their quick use. Jaye quickly pulled a lever near the base of the bat and the handle of the bat twisted down forming a gun like handle, the top of the bat then opened and Jaye fired a large dust infused grenade, revealing that his ranged weapon was a grenade launcher. X followed the action like a shadow, moving at the same instant as he performed a round-house kick sending an explosive round towards Jaye; they both attacked at nearly the same instant and neither of them had any time to react as the explosive projectiles impacted against them at nearly the same moment. A small dust cloud filled the field and all eyes were on it, intent to discover who the victor of the fight was.

The cloud slowly began to clear, a figure appeared in it, standing victorious, Sky and Daisy glanced down towards their scrolls to see who had won. Sky viewed the bar on the screen with a mild sense of disappointment as a red bar hung in the middle of the screen. She looked over towards Daisy's screen and her mouth hung in place, no matter who you were, no one would have thought that after such a fight, Jaye's Aura meter would be completely full… Sky stared in confusion at the aura meter, completely green, solid, and bright, Jaye's aura hadn't been even scratched, and yet, it seemed like he was almost out earlier. The dust cloud at this point had faded and Jaye walked towards the crowd of his classmates, X lay on the ground holding himself up with his arms, one eye closed from the slight pain he was in from having his aura so low. Sky looked up to see X on the ground, from her minor experience with him she could tell that the look of confident loss was filled with regretful anger. Sky then noticed that Ebony had taken a few steps closer so her voice could be heard over the crowd of chatter.

"I didn't expect Jaye to be so experienced in the art of dustcraft… I haven't seen a student do anything like that before" Ebony stressed how impressed she was with Jaye's skill, for the most part, she had thought him to be all talk and no skill, but today had proven her wrong. "Dust weapons are pretty rare right?" Ebony threw the question ou so that Sky could have something to reply to, and so that she could confirm her own thoughts, Sky took the opening that Ebony had given her, and began to explain.

"Yeah, they're not really that common, mostly because they break easily… but no one can argue against how powerful they can be…. Hey… were you watching Jaye's Aura at all?" Sky turned the attention away from the weapon and onto the user, twisting her head slightly to look up at Ebony, who stood just barely taller than her. Ebony contorted her look in confusion at the question, not seeming to understand what she meant by it.

"No, why?" Ebony answered with her own question, and Sky turned away to look back onto Jaye who was living it up with the talk amongst his other students.

"No reason…" Sky answered in a slight mumble, she knew Ebony could hear and didn't bother raising her voice to match the surrounding environment. At this point X had already stood up and sheathed his weapons, walking towards his team with his hands in his pockets. He wore a smirk that told the world he was satisfied with his loss, but Sky could tell with her semblance that he was upset that he couldn't defeat Jaye, or rather, for some reason he seemed upset because he was missing something.

"That was a close match, you guys were rooting for me right?" X spoke out as he closed in on his team-mates, he wore a friendly smile and his hand behind his head just to add to his look. Sky crossed her arms and looked away in a prideful smite, and Ebony seemed to shyly look the opposite direction.

"Nope, I was confident Jaye was going to win this encounter" Sky answered quickly, shattering X's feelings on the matter. X stopped in his tracks and his mouth hung open in shock.

"C'mon, you didn't think I was going to win? What about you Ebony, you had my back right?" Ebony continued to shy her gaze away from him as she answered barely loud enough for the two humans next to her to hear.

"Sorry, I was actually hoping Jaye would win…" Ebony saying it like that broke X, he fell to his knees in pitty as his own team-mates had betrayed him, he tried one last time with his fellow male, reaching out towards Greene who had been towering over both Sky and Ebony from behind.

"Gigantor, please, you were at least hoping I would win right? Right?!" Greene stared down at X and without uttering a word he solemnly shook his head, X's hands lost strength and he fell to the floor depressed. They all simply shrugged their shoulders to him not even caring to wait up as they walked towards the shafts with the rest of the teams, everyone began gathering into the shafts and X remained on the ground hurt by his team, as team JADD walked by to enter one Denim took the small moment to pat X on the head reassuringly before walking off with the remainder of her team.

The rest of the day, and for the next three days, the entire class went out and walked different sections of the wall, giving the normal soldiers' time to rest and recuperate between their long shifts of walking the wall. Although there were automated turrets in place designed to kill stray Grimm that wander too close to the border, it was important that soldiers walk the wall to prevent any surprise attacks from large hordes.

* * *

 _Back in Beacon Dormitories, the day following the end of mission_

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Greene was sitting quietly on his bed meditating, occasionally glancing over towards Ebony who kept taking his concentration away. Sky was sitting at a desk reviewing study sheets and her class notes, seeming to enjoy the extra confirmation each answer gave when she read them for the thirteenth time. Ebony was the most freeform, as she was casually laying down on her bed, she was kicking her legs behind her as she played with her new scroll; the company issued scroll was to be used for communication only, so the new one she got from Beacon gave her a much wider range of things to do. It was a Saturday so all three of them were wearing casual loose clothing, Ebony, however, was taking it a bit to the extreme, unlike Greene and Sky who were both wearing casual attire, Ebony was still Already wearing her sleeping attire; outfitted with a thin silky top and soft pajama pants, she was the sole reason Greene couldn't concentrate on his meditation, and Sky had only gotten through three papers. Although neither of them were complaining, not wanting to ruin the opportunity they were presented with.

Suddenly the atmosphere was shifted as the door burst open and X barged through the doorway "Guys, check it out! It finally made it!" X shouted as he practically broke down the door. Greene sighed as he knew he wouldn't get any quality time, Sky was too busy oodling at Ebony again to notice, and Ebony jerked up sheepishly at the sudden outburst; which in turn made Sky oodle more. X ran in and slid to a stop, slamming a box down onto the ground, it was obviously some kind of shipment box, and it was covered in Mistral labeling, so Sky thought it was something from his home, for various reasons. "Oh man, it's been so long, I don't know how I've lived without you guys!" X seemed to be talking to himself as he began ripping open the box, not caring in the slightest about if the box survived or not. At this point Sky had already turned her chair around to face him, Greene had given up on meditating and was positioned on the edge of his bed, and Ebony was still laying but she had put down her scroll, and removed the earbuds she had in.

X then split the box in half, either in frustration from not being able to open the box fast enough, or to open the box faster out of enthusiasm, regardless it seemed to make Ebony jump again, once more proving she had a weakness to jump-scares. X then removed a strange looking pile of metal, it looked like two cylinders attached together near the front, and it had two large blades sticking out the sides of it. X was grinning from ear to ear as he faced the rest of his team holding the strange device. "What do you guys think!? Isn't it awesome?" He cried out for reassurance, wanting them all to feel as excited as he was. Ebony and Greene exchanged shrugs and then they exchanged another with Sky before returning their view to X who was still holding the device in the air as if it were a legendary artifact. "Oh, right, here" X talked lowly, as if just realizing that they had no idea what he was talking about, he gripped two small handles near the sides and twisted them and suddenly the device came to life, the metal shifted in the opposite direction it had originally been orientated and surrounded his arms, the two cylinders wrapped around his arms and covered up to his elbows. The blades swung around, unhooking from each other and positioning themselves on the sides of the cylinders, suddenly it became obvious to everyone as the last few parts set in position that they were a pair of armored gauntlets, both of which had a large curved blade attached to their side. The gauntlets rode up to his elbows and had a unique design to them; the blades curved back towards the front and had a scythe-like appearance to them. This time the team reacted, Ebony sat up more, using her hands to position her body in a more upright way, Greene stood up completely, his face twisted in confusion and awe, Sky turned her chair completely around, moving to the edge of her seat. "Aren't they awesome!?" X asked for a second time to try and get a better reaction and they all nodded without uttering a word, unable to at the sudden surprise that he had acquired an entire pair of new weapons.

"Where in the world did you get those? And are you sure you know how to use them?" Sky asked unsure if getting a second set of weapons was wise, X twisted his head in confusion as he seemed to take offense to the questions.

"What do you mean? I made them, and yeah I know how to use them, they're my main damage dealers" X explained as if she had hurt his feelings. Sky brought her head back in surprise.

"You made two sets of weapons? Why didn't you have these here before?" Sky seemed the most rational of the group as she was the only one asking questions while the other two just kept eyeing the gauntlets, trying to get used to seeing X wear them. X brought his hand up and scratched his head slightly, the blade attached to his arm reaching towards the ceiling, but never actually touching it, almost as if he was aware of how close it was.

"Well, I technically wasn't allowed to bring Shadow gear with me..." Everyone looked towards X with incriminating glances. "Basically, I don't have a permit, so I wasn't legally allowed to bring any weapons onboard the ship that brought me here…" the reaction doubled when he tried to explain.

"So, you literally broke an international law…" Sky pointed out and explained and X shrunk his shoulders slightly at hearing it that way.

"I-I mean… yes?" X hadn't realized it was an international law, but he still felt that it wasn't that big of a deal, after all, all he did was bring weapons that included sharp blades, live ammunition, and explosives onto a traveling vessel full of civilians while having no license or certification that allows him to do so… ok, now that he thinks more carefully about it, he realizes what he did was definitely not cool.

"I'm starting to believe Denim when she says you're a fucking idiot," Sky said as she dropped her head into her hand facepalming after having found out her team-mate was a criminal.

X hangs his shoulders lowly, dropping his arms, once again the blades almost nearly knocked over a desk-lamp, but avoided it without even seeming to notice it. "well I didn't have any other choice… if I wanted to try and get a Permit, that would mean that I would have had to enroll in a combat school, and then I wouldn't have been able to come to beacon…" this time Ebony spoke out, surprised at what he said.

"Wait, you never went to a combat school? You almost beat Jaye, who is an excellent Dust-Craft prodigy, and you're self-taught?" Ebony seemed the most surprised about the sudden news, the other two know that some students at Beacon are self-taught and that they naturally have a high affinity for combat, meanwhile, Ebony knew this to be true as well, but for the same to be said about a Faunus? Nowhere nearly as common. Faunus had barely enough rights to become hunters, let alone be able to forge their own weapons without being one. "How'd you even forge your weapons if you never went to a combat school? I'm assuming you don't own a forgery anywhere" Ebony kept the questions up, trying to wrap her head around how he had made it this far with no previous help.

"Well, I don't own a forgery, and I never attended a combat school, but you'd be surprised how much you can do with an hour or two every day sneaking into forgeries at different schools" X explained how he was able to craft his weapon, by trespassing into forgeries, making one part at a time, and either getting out without being noticed, or being kicked out when authorities began showing up. At this point, Sky had stood up and held her hand in front of her.

"So let's count this all up… you illegally trespassed onto Government property to illegally make weapons for yourself from stolen materials, just to smuggle those illegally made weapons onto travel vessels without any kind of permits or certification, to apply for a school… am I getting that right?" Sky counted on her fingers every time she mentioned some kind of felony or crime that he had committed without giving it a second thought.

"Well when you put it that way it makes me sound like a bad guy"

"You are a bad guy!" X commented and Sky quickly retorted against him, Sky sighed and plopped back into her chair exhausted having found out about X's past. Ebony giggled at their interaction before bringing her voice into the matter

"Well whatever he is, he's our team-mate now, and nothing will change that, so let's all just move past this and look forward to when we're _not_ breaking the law," Ebony said in an attempt to cheer up her team-mates and in an attempt to move past the conversation topic. Everyone seemed to agree with the notion and moved past the conversation, X was seemingly sad when everyone moved past.

"No one said they were cool…" He spoke under his breath, depressed about how no one had complimented his weapons. Ebony glanced back up with a small smile

"They're very nice X, definitely your style" She spoke just to compliment his weapons, and to cheer him up, it worked as X beamed happily towards the compliment, giving Ebony a proud thumbs up.

"You hear that Crescent Scar? She said you're nice, you better earn that compliment next time in the field" X spoke to his gauntlets, which was apparently named 'Crescent Scar' Ebony lightly giggled at him talking to his weapons and by this time Sky had returned to her studies, and Greene had begun walking towards the door.

"Where are you going, Greene?" X turned his attention towards Greene who seemed intent on leaving; Greene stopped and looked down at X, only giving him a small sample of his voice.

"Training… Combat room…" Greene spoke lightly, before walking out the door down the hall, leaving X dumbfounded in his place.

"We… we have a combat training room?" X quickly turned his attention towards the two girls that were left in the room with him, and Sky just gave him a cold glare for distracting her again.

"Yes, we have a training room… what have you been doing on your free time?" Sky questioned him but at this point, he was already unsheathing his skates and heading for the door

"None of your business, I'ma go fight Greene, see you two in a little while…. And Ebony, put some damn clothes on; if you stay like that I can't leave you alone with Sky" X called out behind him as he walked through the door trying to catch up to Greene and his warping semblance. Ebony turned her head in confusion

"Huh? What do you think he meant by that?" Ebony questioned turning towards Sky, who suddenly jerked her gaze away, from her oodling, and chuckled nervously, shrugging her shoulders.

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 _Authors note: Ok guys, sorry about not having this chapter done by last week, I had THE WORST writer's block ever like for five solid days I couldn't even start this chapter… but regardless, I was able to complete it for this upload, and I even added in some fighting to try to make up for my blunders. So we got to see Jaye's weapon, and what a weapon it is, a Synthetic Dust baseball bat with a hidden grenade launcher feature, whoo, what a mouth-full. We also got to hear the names of the new teams that will be introduced, and yes, I will introduce them much more in depth in the coming chapters, team BLST, and more importantly team STAR. We also figured out more about X's back-story, as well as found out that he has an entire other weapon set that we haven't even seen yet, so make sure to look forward to that. Next chapter will include some more sparring, as well as some more character development, and make sure to look out for details that may help you figure out what kind of semblances some of the other characters have, we may know team SAGE's but everyone has one, so leave a review saying what you think someone has. And make sure to share this with your friends to spread the word, anyway, see you guys next week, in chapter 11._


	12. Chapter 11

_Authors Notes: ok, this chapter is going to have a bit of everything, fighting, time skips, classes, and more! I don't have a bad writer's block right now, so hopefully, this chapter will turn out a bit longer. Make sure to leave a review with your thoughts on the recent chapters. Like what do you think Denim and Ambers semblances are? What did Steel mean when she says that no one truly understands Aura or semblances? And when will they finally go on a real mission? Well, that last one isn't really for you to answer, anyway, ONTO THE CHAPTER! (ps, that whole "onto the chapter" bit is kinda annoying, don't you guys agree? Lol)_

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Chapter 11

X navigated the twists and turns of the hallways with his skates, making sure not to turn on their motors so he could keep himself at a controllable speed, not wanting to go too fast and run into anyone. Eventually, as the ivory colored walls rushed past him, he was able to make out the figure of Greene at the end of a hall, gripping the handle of a door, it wasn't exactly hard to spot him seeing as how he was nearly as tall as the door itself. Greene seemed to notice X as he released the handle and faced him, waiting for him to eventually come to a stop. X quickly sheathed his skate's mid-motion and began jogging with flat feet to keep the momentum and not lose footing. Greene nodded towards him without saying a word, which was his way of greeting his friends, at this point X had finally realized that his gauntlets were still on, and the looks of confused and scared students had made more sense to him now. X decided to sheath his gauntlets to not draw more attention, so he moved his arms close together and twisted them towards one another, the metal seemed to click into place and he quickly pulled his hands out as the gauntlets shifted back to their strange sheathed form, X caught them and hooked it onto the back of his pants, he wasn't wearing his combat gear so that was the best he could do.

Greene turned back towards the door and pushed it open, gripping the handle tightly, like he did most things. A new door of possibilities opened up to X, quite literally, as the door swung open, his mouth gaped wider and wider. The floor was outfitted with both tiling, and matted areas, right next to the door were two boxing rings, one on each side, both had a row of punching bags sitting next to them, and a few benches for those that eventually got tired. At this point he was walking into the room, observing everything his eyes could land on, never had he seen such a magnificent room, none of the smaller academies had anything like it, and it only confirmed the rumors of Beacons status as best. The roof reached high above them, well above anything within throwing distance. Past the rings, on the right was a series of weights, and muscle building machines; on the left, was a series of dummies, in various shapes and sizes, some had dozens of rotating arms, others looked like scarecrows, ready to be mutilated. A vending machine sat next to them on the tiled floor, and as he observed it more closely, he realized that the tiles outlined the area, anywhere that actual combat or training would ensue, padding and mats made up the floor, but anywhere that a student would walk to get to a destination, was outfitted with tiling, to help distinguish training from traveling.

Near the end of the room, a couple of doors led to various destinations, each labeled accordingly. The one on the far left read **"RANGE"** and was very obviously meant for ranged practice, so anyone could keep up on their sharpshooting skills. The next, read **"LOCKERS"** this less exciting sign was obviously pointing towards the locker-room, where students would keep spare clothes, or their weapons, before or after training. The third and fourth doors were both bathrooms. Nothing too exciting, but the one on the farthest right, immediately intrigued X, as it read **"OPEN SPAR"** which could only mean, one thing.

"Dude, let's spar, I've barely seen you fight, and I have to get used to Crescent Scar again" X begged Greene to spar against him, and at first Greene seemed reluctant to agree to his idea, but in the end, he decided there was no real point in refusing. After all, an actual fight is better than idle practice. When he came to an agreement, Greene nodded his head, confirming the idea. X fist pumped in excitement, quickly rushing through the door and down the hall it leads, Greene tried to reach out and stop him, but it was of no use. Although the rest of the Gym seemed to be nearly dead, as he approached the sparring area, he began to hear cheers and hollers. He opened the door and saw a mild sized crowd standing just beyond the door. They were all standing near the rail and peering down over it. He made his way around them and looked down below the railing as well, the arena wasn't much lower than them, about five or six feet lower than they were, and on the inside of the arena stood two girls, both of which he recognized. One was none other than Lox from team BLST, a second-year team, she was a dynamite blue haired girl that preferred energetic talking and excitement to things that moved slowly, like reading, or studies. It made a lot of sense as to why the others were excited about a fight with a second year, but what got X was that Denim was on the other side of the ring. He could see Amber along the railing on the other side, alone as always, but his attention was brought back to Denim, who was apparently going to fight the second year. X looked more closely and he saw that Lox was wielding her large scythe with both hands, getting into a fighting stance; meanwhile, Denim held her hand on her hip cocked slightly, her weapon still sheathed on her lower back, as if she had no intention of drawing it at all.

X glanced up at the board to his right, where a timer was counting down until the official start of the match began, it also held both the aura meters for Denim and Lox, both were nearly full, so it seemed like an even fight, other than Lox being a second year that is. X removed his gaze from the clock one it reached ten and watched as Lox got ready, and Denim, who had actually yawned in boredom. Suddenly a loud ring was heard and X saw Lox dash forward but almost at the same instant X was suddenly looking towards the board, he wasn't trying to on purpose, but he couldn't look towards the fight, he looked around and saw that no one was watching the fight, absolutely no one could look down towards the pit, all they could see was each other and the board as Lox's aura steadily dropped quickly. The sound of grunting and gun-shots rang through the room, but that was all that they knew of the fight, but they all watched as Lox's Aura quickly dropped to the red, ending the match, and at nearly the same moment everyone's heads snapped back towards the arena, as if the force that had forced them to look away had suddenly released them. X looked down to see Lox on her hands and knees, her weapon thrown to the side, Denim was casually walking away, her hand coming off of her weapon, as it shifted in place as if she had just sheathed it. The small groups of students were completely silent, just like X and Greene, they had no idea what to make of the situation, after all, they hadn't seen anything.

Denim strode through the door at the end of the arena and Amber had left her seat, heading towards the small locker-room just outside the arena where the students get ready. X quickly followed after her, walking briskly in an attempt to catch up without drawing any attention. X burst into the locker-room and saw near the opposite end that Amber was sitting on a bench and Denim was pulling a jacket over her arms, changing back into her casual clothing.

"Damn too late" X muttered to himself before approaching them both with a wave. "Hey, I saw your fight, well, I didn't see it, but I saw that you won," X spoke nonchalantly but Denim's face burst into flames.

"Jeez, how long were you in here!?" Denim's voice was filled with anger. X smirked and decided to use the opportunity to mess with her.

"Long enough and I must say… nice" X said with a wink to emphasize his toying and Denim growled, her face ripened to a crimson color.

"Why you! Amber. Now." Denim seemed more pissed than ever, but even X didn't know what she was talking about, He glanced over towards Amber who Denim gestured to and she simply glanced back.

Both team SAGE and team JADD were surrounded; they all stood back to back looking around at the horde of Grimm. Three Tajitu circled them, dozens of Creeps and Beowulves blotted out the forestry, and the ground shifted as Falek's burrowed beneath them. X looked on in horror as he knew no hunter could survive, he looked up to see a sea of black, Nevermore's hundreds of them, covered the sky. Suddenly, and without warning, his team-mates all charged the Grimm, leaving X to watch as their weapons broke into pieces; he couldn't move, he couldn't speak, all he could do was watch as his friends were caught by the monsters, he looked to his right to see that team JADD had done the same, all of them were trapped by the monsters and he couldn't do anything. He looked down to see his weapons suddenly crumble to pieces, all of his hard work for nothing, he looked back to team JADD only to not be able to look away, he saw Jaye, one of his newest friends, lying limply in the mouth of a Taijitu, its teeth dug into his flesh, only his arm, leg and head hung from its mouth, a fountain of red fell from him as his glassy eyes stared back at X. He could barely look away, but when he managed to, all he saw was Amber, and Daisy being ripped apart, Beowulves tore at their limbs and pulled their bodies apart as if they were pieces of a toy. He forced himself to look away, checking back onto his team where he saw his partner, Sky, or at least what was left of her. All he could see was her mangled corpse, as Creeps dug into her body, scraping her flesh from the bone, a sea of Crimson surrounded her and drew his attention to Greene and Ebony; Greene was being dragged under the earth, his neck snapped and dragging limply as the Falek drug him under. Ebony was nearly flattened, her bones stuck through her flesh as if the Falek had crushed her under its weight. He couldn't move, he couldn't utter a sound; all he could do is watch in horror. Turning away from what he thought couldn't get worse, he saw Denim, but she wasn't dead, not yet, she was calling out for him, her hand outstretched for him to help her as she was swept away into the veil of black her voice being drowned out in the ocean of roars and growls. He couldn't take it anymore; he fell to his knees as he watched all of his friends be torn apart.

And that's when he woke up. Suddenly his eyes were adjusting to the light of ceiling lights. They were bright and annoying to look at directly, but his mind was still hazy, all he could remember was the sight of his friends dying in front of him. He then saw Denim, in her casual clothing, and Amber bending over him, he then felt the ground beneath his body. And a sharp pain in his head as he heard Denim's voice.

"That's what you get, you fucking creep" Denim seemed angry for some reason, but he couldn't understand what was going on. He brought his hand up to hold his head and felt that his face was wet, a mix of sweat and tears had coated his face is a mess of wet skin. He immediately began wiping away at it all in an attempt to dry it before anyone noticed. It didn't seem to work as Denim began laughing "You should have seen your face, you cried like a little bitch! It was hilarious honestly" X sat up, his head still ringing, his mind still confused he felt as though he should have been relieved to see them both well again, but he also felt as though there was no need for concern. He glanced up at Amber and she held her head low

"Sorry" Amber whispered quietly and it only confirmed his thoughts on what he had just witnessed. That and the fact that he could feel his own semblance meant that he knew he could copy Ambers, and he knew from that, that what he had just spent what seemed like hours inside, was simply the effect of her Semblance.

"How long was I under?" He was sitting up at this point, not wanting to stand with the uneasiness. Amber lowered her head slightly, and Denim crossed her arms over her chest, having gotten over the situation.

"It was only a minute or two, serves you right for peeping." Denim answered making sure to dig at him again but he simply shook his head slightly.

"I didn't actually see anything… sheesh, I came in and you were already dressed" X tried to explain in his groggy state, his mind was still hazy and he wasn't in the mood to joke around, explaining it as it was. Denim and Amber both seemed surprised.

"Oh… Well, think before you say things like that" Denim said trying to assure what they did was still acceptable to her self.

"What did you see?" Amber asked quietly, trying to keep her voice as low and reserved as possible. X at this point was almost over it, but he was confused as to what she meant.

"You mean you don't know?" Amber shook her head at the question, she may have had control over how long he was under, but she apparently had no control over what he actually saw. "uh… Nothing… just some scary Grimm is all…" He decided it wasn't for the best to reveal that he had seen them die in front of his eyes, Amber seemed hesitant to accept the excuse, but she didn't push farther. X then stood up, still rubbing the sides of his head from the effects of her semblance, at this point Greene had entered the room, he was making his way towards them and his presence was hard to miss.

"Hey Greene, wait, what are you two doing here anyway? You didn't come just to see me fight did you?" Denim said slightly sarcastically, but also hoping they had, a small blush rising at the thought of them wanting to watch her.

"No, Spar ourselves" Greene answered with a firm shake of his head, instantly Denim's smile had dropped.

"Actually, we didn't know you were fighting anyone today, guess it wasn't that important" X explained for her as Greene finally made it next to him, she was the one that then felt betrayed as no one except her partner seemed to care about her fight.

"Well good luck you two, can't say I'll be watching though" Denim said as she motioned for Amber to follow, Amber wasn't exactly the most forward marching girl, so while others may have seen Denim as controlling when she told Amber where they were going, Amber actually felt a wave of relief as she wasn't in the spotlight where a mistake would come back to her. Somehow Denim had already figured out what Amber wants to do without needing to put her in control.

"Denim, let's be honest, we both know you're going to be watching me," X said with a wink, finally getting his head back in pieces, Denim rolled her eyes as neared the door.

"Greene, kick his ass" Denim commented as she left the room and Greene nodded in response, before walking towards his locker that he stored his weapon in earlier. Opening the larger door they both walked out into the arena pit, already some people were gone, presumably from having already 'Watched' the second year fight. X briskly walked over to the opposite end of the arena and grabbed Crescent scar from his back, quickly activating them and letting them grip onto his arms. At this point, they could both see a group of students crowd the railings to watch. It was unscheduled so no one knew what was going to happen, and that meant no holds barred. They both understood that full use of semblance and weapons were allowed, first to the fatal red 10% was out.

"Ok Greene, I'm going to warn you now, you're not going to want to go easy on me… without these on I'm an ant compared to when I have them." X taunted Greene but he didn't seem to care, his stoic nature giving him a natural defense against verbal confliction. Greene gripped the handle of his weapon, Wraith; it was a large pole-arm with a mallet-like hammer on one end and a long curved blade on the other. It didn't seem as though it had a second form, or that it had any range.

X then activated his Shadow-Gear, letting them fold out over his feet and form into the metal bladed skates that he knew and loved so much. X lowered his body, but Greene was immediately confused, unlike before, he didn't get into the same stance he normally would, now, with the large hooked blades attached to his gauntlets, it previous stance wouldn't work. Now X had folded his arms up, holding his elbows outward, the blades extended forward and stabbed into the ground, the hooked end digging into it. This new stance looked feral, almost like a Beowulf that was ready to pounce. Greene tightened his grip on his weapon and got ready, he raised it so the blade was behind him high, and the hammer was centered low, so he didn't have to spend more energy than necessary simply holding the weapon. X glanced down at his aura meter, which also held the rest of his team's on it, currently everyone's was empty, but his quickly filled once he flared his aura on, allowing it to take effect and protect his body, he immediately felt refreshed after having done so, the slight stinging on the back of his head ceased all at once, as if the injury from fall to the floor had been healed. He then noticed a similar flare coat Greene's body and he watched as his meter filled to green as well.

A familiar alarm of the bell sent both of them into motion, the wheels of X's skates rapidly spun as he revved the motors, he pulled his arms back so the blades dug into the ground and pulled him forwards to help gain speed. Greene took one bounding step forwards, before he began to spin with the motion, holding wraith tight, the blade scraped against the ground as he spun his back against towards X; who at this point dashed to Greene's right side, trying to avoid the hammer as it began its descent. All at once X tried to get past Greene, to use his large scythe-like blades to his advantage, but the moment he had gotten to his side, the hammer had managed to catch up to him and instead of striking the ground it continued it's spin around his body and slammed into his lower back. X's aura was chunked away at the impact. He gasped at the blow as the wind was nearly knocked out of him, but he was able to regain his footing and kept his stride up long enough to turn back around to face Greene. Greene had stopped spinning his weapon and now held it with one hand as if it were a common bo-staff, holding one hand out facing X. _"What the fuck! I thought he was going to try to slam that thing, not swing it!"_ he thought to himself as he faced down his opponent. He glanced at his aura and he could already tell this wasn't going to be easy, a single strike having taken almost 10% of his aura definitely meant he couldn't afford any hits.

X began his charge again, pumping his arms to try and help speed up, Greene started spinning his weapon again, suddenly, without warning, Greene launched forwards towards X mid-charge, he swung his blade down at a diagonal arc. X quickly shot a kinetic round from the front of his right skate, as well as from the front of his right gauntlet, forcing his body to swivel with almost instant mobility, allowing him to narrowly dodge the blade's swing, but instead of Greene slashing at the ground, it swung back up away from X as it forced the hammer end to crash into X's side, throwing him away yet again. This time X fell to the floor and rolled back onto his knees, looking back towards Greene so he couldn't surprise him. _"Damn! Anywhere the blade isn't that Hammer fills in, I can't even get close!"_ X thought to himself in his desperation to come up with a plan. He stood back up and Greene seemed to wait for him to do so, obviously wanting to fight on fair terms, X quickly spun around and jumped, he shot two kinetic rounds from the front of his gauntlets and the backs of his skates so he could perform a backflip with ease, in the middle of the air he shot an explosive round from the front of his skates, hurling two of them towards Greene with effective surprise. Greene quickly reacted by using his semblance to teleport a foot away letting the shots miss him, he began twisting his body and spinning his weapon to combat the projectiles. As X continued, landing on one foot and continuing the storm of acrobatics that shot a hailstorm of explosive rounds towards Greene, who began slicing them out of the air and forcing them away with the blade and the hammer end of his weapon. Suddenly Greene's blade didn't make contact with another round and he turned around to see that X was no longer there, feeling a sharp force against him, he looked down just in time to See X as he passed by, using the hooked end of his right Gauntlet to wrap around his abdomen, digging into his Aura before sending X around him, He quickly released Greene and sent a direct round into him as a parting gift.

Greene recoiled from the attack, taking a few steps back from the exiting explosion; X quickly came back for seconds, not wanting to waste any opportunity. Greene didn't want to give any openings so he spun around swinging his bladed end towards his side, but just before it made contact with X he disappeared, appearing just to Greene's left side, following close behind the Hammer, so Greene couldn't counter his move since he was following the rotation, but as X's blades got close to his skin he disappeared as well, appearing slightly above X slamming the hammer down towards him, it met nothing but floor as X managed to disappear just quick enough to avoid the strike. He appeared just in front of Greene, holding onto his shoulders as he flipped over him, preparing to strike the spike on the back end of his skates into Greene's back, but he disappeared just quick enough, appearing in front of X bringing the hammer upwards between his legs. X went wide-eyes making sure to disappear well before the hammer made any kind of contact. X appeared at the opposite end of the arena and gave them both space to think. Greene stood tall as if standing firm to his belief that he would win. X looked down at the scroll, both Ebony and Sky's meters were empty, neither one of them had activated their aura as of yet, Greene's was close to half, just slightly above, but X's was slightly below half, just below the yellow marker. X had managed to stay at pace, but he was steadily losing ground.

"You know Greene, if we keep at it like this, spending all of our Aura on your semblance… I'll win; after all… I'm the best Copy-Cat around" X said cockily, smirking at him, as if X knew he would be the victor of the fight. Greene didn't seem to enjoy the thought, gripping his weapon he growled lowly, barely audible to even X.

X charged, riding straight forward towards Greene, who swung his weapon heavily, but Greene didn't aim for his front, he knew that X's weapons were useless from a straight attack, preferring to out-maneuver and attack on the offhand. So he swung so his strike would hit stronger on his sides, twisting his head around to with his body to watch behind him. But no attack came, instead X screamed as he tackled Greene from the front. Greene didn't expect the move so his position didn't help him at all, X held onto his shoulders, even when Greene used his semblance to try and escape, X was latched on and went with him. Suddenly X shouted as if he were in an anime

"Hidden Move! Unloading Barrage!" X shouted as suddenly a series of explosive rounds rippled into Greene, all four of the front muzzles unloading their own rounds into him. After the series of explosions X used Greene's semblance to appear a dozen feet into the air, still gripping Greene tightly X began firing kinetic shots from the backs of all four muzzles, rocketing them both down towards the ground. The impact mixed with the close proximity explosions quickly shredded both of their aura, and yet, X stood firm. He stood up above Greene and glanced down at his meter; nearly 80% full. Greene's was almost completely depleted, only having a couple percentages left protecting his body. X took a few steps back and began sheathing his gauntlets, breathing heavily. Greene slowly sat up, barely wanting to move after such damage to his aura.

"Wha.. how?" Greene mustered the strength to breathe the words out between his panting. X grinned as he placed Crescent Scar onto the back of his pants.

"Simple really… the same way Jaye beat me, Recovery, it's the name of his semblance, sneaky little bastard" X explained, with a light chuckle, joyous about having defeated Greene. "C'mon, let me help you up Gigantor" He said holding out his hand, when Greene used it to pull himself up, he ended up just standing on his own and pulling X down onto the ground.

"Already used that one" Greene said sternly as If he wasn't offended by the name, but was instead, offended by the fact that he had already given him that name.

"Shit, sorry Grande" X retorted quickly, and it seemed to calm the friendly giant, as even though he had just lost the match, he smiled peacefully. "That was a fun fight, by the way, You're tough to deal with one on one." Greene simply nodded as they both walked to the door into the lockers. Once they entered they immediately saw Denim and Amber in the locker room rooting through an empty locker. "Denim? I thought you said you weren't going to watch my fight" X smirked at the thought that she did stay. She seemed to roll her entire head at the comment and turned around crossing her arms angrily.

"I didn't watch your stupid fight, I just had to come back and. Uh, find my scroll, I think I left it in here when I got ready" suddenly a ringing sound could be heard emanating from Denim's jacket. All four of them sat in silence until it eventually stopped ringing.

"I think you should have picked that up" X teased and Denim immediately went bright red with 'anger'

"Yeah, well if it wasn't for your stupid peeping, I wouldn't have been in a rush and thought I forgot my scroll!" She huffed and X could barely contain his laughter.

"I told you before I wasn't peeping, and you totally knew you had your scroll, admit it, you were watching the fight." Suddenly X's vision was that of the wall to his right, he tried pushing back to look over towards Denim, but some force prevented him from looking her way. "You know, I really don't like this semblance, and I normally like every semblance" X grunted out as he strained to look her way, but couldn't force it.

"And why is that? Because you can't copy it and be the best Copy Cat?" Denim teased since she seemed to have control of the situation.

"Of course not… It's because when you use it, I don't get to look at you anymore" X spoke softly, no longer struggling against the force, and just letting it do it's thing, staring sideways he smiled softly and waited for a response.

"Asshole" he barely heard her voice, not even his Faunus traits could hear what she practically didn't speak at all. Suddenly he felt the pressure release and he turned to face her once again, she was still puffing in annoyance and crossing her arms.

"Wait, how did you know about me being a 'Copy Cat'?" X questioned, now that he thought about the way she worded it, he had never mentioned his old name to her. She immediately started glancing around as if looking for inspiration for a lie.

"uh, well, Sky told me, we uh, we bumped into her in the halls and got to talking" Denim nodded agreeing with her own story as if it were a fact, but X didn't buy it for a second.

"I never told Sky about that, in fact, the only time I've mentioned that name was in my fight against Greene, you totally were watching!" X slightly cheered the thought and almost immediately his vision went to the wall again.

"I already told you I wasn't watching your stupid fight, sheesh, I've wasted so much time here, c'mon Amber let's get going" he could hear her start to leave and he slowly felt the pressure shifting, as if it acted like a bubble around her. "What are you giggling about?" was the last thing he heard Denim say before the door closed behind them both and the pressure released completely. Sighing relieved they both walked towards the lockers they used and began to rest after the fight.

"Called at perfect timing" Greene spoke, referring to how her scroll was called at the opportune moment to ruin Denim's excuse. X chuckled lightly before bringing up his scroll

"Yeah, almost as if I called her" His chuckling shifted into laughter and Greene began chuckling with him.

"You have her number? How?" X waved away the comment

"Please, I got methods man, but damn was that priceless" They both agreed on that and continued to laugh about it before getting ready to head back to the dorm room.

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 _Authors Notes: Hey, it was really fun writing this chapter I didn't get to the time-skips and classes that I promised, but about three-quarters of the way through I felt that it was better I focused on this and made it better, rather than trying to squeeze too much in. I also didn't want to ruin what's next to come, since it's also pretty awesome. So we pretty much know all eight of the main characters semblances by now, of course, we could learn more later, but it's definitely a start. I want you guys to leave a review about what you think Ms. Steel's semblance is, and what kind of weapon she might use (after all, she is a Full-on Huntress) and make sure to share this around, don't be stingy and hide it away, let it flower and grow. I really appreciate any support or advice given, so don't be shy, anyway, I can't wait for next week's chapter. And neither should you, but until then, byeeee_


	13. Chapter 12

_Authors Notes: Hey everyone, if all goes well, this chapter should be one of my favorite chapters in the Academy arc. Look forward to the good kind of exposition, as we get into some stuff never before touched on. Anyway, onto the chapter!_

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Chapter 12

X stared down a massive monster; it was easily three stories tall. Its stone body seemed connected only by air, black and red veins ran along the stones, a black mist flowing around each one. The giant golem-like Grimm peered towards X like he was a plate of lobster; the center of the giant's mass held a single mask, a Grimm mask. An orange and red-eye glared from the mask, but he didn't turn away, he faced it down and smirked before taking a bound towards it. Suddenly he felt a pressure against his cheek and opened his eyes. He groggily lifted his head to see that he was still in class; Ms. Steel was simply talking about the Geist Grimm, which has the ability to possess objects to form a more powerful body, most commonly, stones, or metal. He sighed in annoyance that his dream was cut short, and placed his hand under his chin. Greene pulled his pencil away and resumed taking notes on the lesson. X glanced around the room, noticing that a couple of the other students had taken to similar methods of passing the time by sleeping as well. Normally the class would be more on alert, but after studying the same subject every week, it was more practical to get some well appreciated shut-eye. He sighed as Ms. Steel continued her speech about how a Geist is naturally a more preserving Grimm, preferring to run and hide if necessary to its survival.

Without notice, Titania from team PSTA rose from her desk groaning in annoyance "Hey isn't about time we learn something useful? Its halfway through the year already and all we've done is learn, relearn, and take tests about stupid Grimm, sure, we need to know our enemies, but no one is even paying attention anymore, C'mon, teach us something useful" Ms. Steel stopped mid-sentence and fixed her posture; standing straight she placed the cap onto the marker she was using, and turned off the projector, walking to the front of the desk.

"Very well, I see that you all know everything there is to know about Grimm, I mean, since you're the experts, why don't I just give a quiz? One final quiz and we'll all move on to the next curriculum?" Titania plopped back into her chair, but not out of relief, as she was joined by the whole class in an exasperated sigh. They knew this routine; she would give a quiz with answers that they just so happened to not know as if she knew what they had and had not studied. And then after the quiz, she would explain that they didn't know enough to learn something different, it was the same every time.

"Ms. Steel, all due respect and all, but we're not idiots, we know that your tests are impossible to answer." Purg from Team PSTA spoke out, trying to reason with her. Ms. Steel seemed to think about what he had said, understanding that they had gone through the same event several times and that if she were to perform it again they might begin to leave the class, and that was the last thing she wanted.

"Ok, well I have a proposition… I will write five questions on the board, anyone capable of answering all five correctly will have the choice as to whether or not we proceed to the next course. But I must warn you all, you will not be allowed to share answers, nor would you be allowed to use any form of semblance during this test, failure to head my warnings will result in all of your answers becoming void, regardless of their validity." The students in the class seemed to respond better to this suggestion, their previous experiences were of individual questions that always seemed impossible, but now, they were five standardized questions that seemed possible. Sky, however, seemed the most out of place, she narrowed her gaze onto Ms. Steel, revoking the use of Semblance took away her most powerful tool for answering the questions, now she had to rely on everyone's individual intelligence, and hope that at least one person knew all five answers. Everyone sat in place, waiting for her to finish writing the questions when she did, not a single student looked confident with themselves.

" _What kind of questions are these?_

' _What's the weakest joint in a Mogwai's armor?'_

' _On Average, how many Beowulfs stride together under the lead of a single Beta?'_

' _If lost on the opposite side of the Mountains, which local route is the easiest to cross?'_

' _What method should a Hunter perform to escape a Cheshire if they do not believe themselves capable of killing it?'_

 _And then the clincher_

' _What is the ratio of Alpha Grimm killed by the students in this room?' I only know the second, but how is anyone supposed to know the last without being able to talk about their confirmed kills?"_ Sky thought to herself as she wrote down the questions in her note-pad. Quickly answering the second with _'On average, a single Beta would only be able to keep 6 Beowulfs under its lead'_ after that, she was completely dumbfounded by the other questions. She knew X would know the first, and Greene would know the third, but she wasn't able to use her semblance, not without her answers being useless.

Sky sat in silence, thinking to herself about her situation, glancing around the room all she could see were her fellow students struggling just as she was. _"There's no way… if no one has finished it yet, no one will… if we can't communicate, if we can't work as a team, we'll all fail, I know that's what this is really about, but what does she expect from us?"_ Sky thought to herself trying to come up with a way out of their situation, she glanced over to her team all sitting to her right, first X who was strangely invested in the test, his face scrounged in frustration, attempting to solve the riddles before him. Second was Greene, who stared down with a blank look, as if he had already given up, maybe it was time to do just that; the test was impossible to complete, not by following the rules at least. Maybe Sky should have just given in and let Ms. Steel control the show, it is her class anyway, who does Sky think she is to challenge her authority? At least, that is what she was thinking, lastly was Ebony, who smiled down at the paper, Sky didn't understand the smile, it wasn't from satisfaction, there was no way Ebony could have answered them all. Instead, the smile was from something else, something more, Ebony glanced up and saw Sky looking towards her. And without uttering a word, gestured her smile at Sky. She understood it wasn't from the satisfaction of completing the quiz, it was from the challenge the test gave them. Unbeatable odds and restricting rules? Sounded like any normal mission to her, and like any normal mission, rules were made to be broken. Sky grinned towards Ebony and quickly activated her semblance.

" _Quick, Tell me any answers you know"_ a voice rang into X's mind, he looked up and saw that Sky was peering towards him intently, but he didn't understand, Ms. Steel had made it clear that she wasn't supposed to use her semblance, and if he gave her the information, that means that he would be sharing information, he would be breaking the rules as well. _"C'mon, we don't have long until the class gives up"_ Her voice called out again, and he looked around the room, it was true that most had already pushed their paper in front of them and rested their heads in shame, but he couldn't bring himself to break the rules, not if it meant that he wouldn't be able to answer them. _"Listen, she said that if we tell people things, or if we use our semblances, our papers and answers are void… but what if I give the answers to someone else? As long as they don't break the rules, their answers are valid"_ X's eyes widened at the revelation, Sky had managed to find a loophole in her rules, and with it, he quickly thought about his answers, only two of which he could finish, the first and the second.

Sky quickly began cycling through the other students. Every student that thought of their answers would immediately break the first rule, but it was ok, as long as Sky left some students, she had options to finish the test, so she quickly gathered the other two answers from Greene and Purg, who surprisingly knew that if you refuse to fight a Cheshire, it would leave you alone, after mortally wounding you of course; soon enough Sky had four of the five questions written on her own sheet of paper. But this wasn't enough, there were three students left, and she couldn't figure out how to finish the last question, she could figure it all out herself, but to do so every student would have broken a rule, leaving no student to answer, and to find the answer, she needed the average of all the students.

Sky sunk her head and placed her forehead onto the desk, she couldn't think of any way around the final answer, suddenly, Greene stood; he drew the attention of all the students before he spoke loudly, only a couple words, but words that gave enough meaning to move the entire class.

"Three Confirmed Kills" Everyone sat in silence and Ms. Steel glanced towards him with a glare, she seemed insistent on not letting them know she was onto them, she hadn't said anything yet, but Sky knew that if she tried to answer, she would turn them down in a heartbeat. But Greene's voice echoed across the room, as Purg and Titania stood as well.

"Four here" Purg stated

"I've only killed Two" Titania followed up, Sky then understood, Greene had managed to find yet another loophole around the problem, quickly Sky targeted the only students that hadn't broken a rule yet Amber, Jaye, and Angel, from team STAR.

" _Quick, don't say anything, don't think about anything, DO NOT BREAK A RULE"_ Sky shouted into their heads, quickly informing them not to ruin the plan in motion. Students began standing, everyone that had already broken a rule began listing off their confirmed Alpha kills; Sky began writing, she jotted down every number and started keeping a tally for how many students there were in the room. Suddenly she heard Jaye's voice call out

"I have six kills" He stated matter-of-factly, and Sky whipped her head around and glared towards him with an icy stare that could freeze blood. Her flaming eyes never looked so cold. She sighed and returned to doing the math. Soon enough all but two in the room had broken a rule, but Sky had the math, all she needed was information from the last two, and this is where it got tricky. Sky knew that in order for her to properly pull off the plan, she would have to make absolutely sure that whoever she gave the answers too, would not only be able to complete the math but also not think back while doing so, otherwise they would have broken the first rule as well.

Sky looked above her to the opposite end of the classroom, near the door and in the bottom row sat the four members of team STAR, a powerful second-year team, above them sat the four members of team JADD, of the two, Amber and Angel were the only ones capable of finishing the quiz. _"I know Amber is smart enough to finish the math, but I'm not sure she would be able to actually answer… I know nothing about Angel, so I can't say either way for her.'_ Sky couldn't decide who to entrust, she glanced from Amber to Angel who at this point were both looking her way as well. It wasn't until Sky saw Denim nudging her head towards Amber could she decide, she quickly used her semblance to contact Angel, informing her that she can speak aloud, and quickly telling Amber the rest of the answers and the equation she was working on. Amber took out her pen and began writing in her notepad, finishing the math while including her own figures into it. Soon enough, Amber stood, holding the paper in hand she walked down the stairs towards Ms. Steel, who was sitting on the front of her desk with a wide smirk plastered across her face.

"Are these your answers Ms. Clienheart?" Steel asked for confirmation as Amber turned in the paper with a nod. Ms. Steel roamed her eyes over the content on the paper and Amber quickly took her seat next to Denim, her ears and head lower than ever. Steel placed the paper onto the desk and turned towards the class. "I'm sure you're all aware that only one of you managed to listen to my rules, I strictly forebode you all from communicating, or using semblances, and yet you all felt it necessary to disobey me?" Steel did not have a look of satisfaction, but rather, a look of disgust. The students all recoiled, they had thought they finished her test correctly, that they were meant to work together and sacrifice themselves in order for one to finish the test.

"Steel, I'm sorry, but I fail to see what we could have done otherwise? That was the point of this test was it not? To teach us that sometimes we have to be willing to sacrifice ourselves to let others survive and pass?" Sky stood, explaining her reasoning with passion, but it was only met with fury.

"Absolutely not! None of you were supposed to fail, in fact, all of you should have well passed without a single rule being broken; as a Huntsman or Huntress, it is your duty to protect everyone. Everyone knows that, but how are you supposed to protect anyone, if you throw your life away? If this were a real battle, you would all have given your life so that a single one of you could survive is that right? No, that is the worst way to think, if you willingly sacrifice yourself all you're doing is making it harder for those who survive. It may be your duty to protect others, but it is your responsibility to protect yourself, if you are about to lose a fight, do not struggle until you die, run, escape with your life, throw away all your pride and all your courage." Steel was practically yelling at the class, she actually seemed angry that they had used such a method.

"But how were we supposed to pass? We couldn't talk to each other, there was no way to know the answers" Sky tried to rebuttal her statement but Steel didn't accept the answer

"You think! That is a Huntsman strongest weapon, the mind. My rules were that you could not talk to each other, nor could you use your semblances, tell me, what way could you transfer information, without directly transferring information?" Steel left the question hang in the air, but she didn't let anyone answer. "You write it down." She said before turning around, grabbing a marker and proceeding to write in scribbles under question one. Turning around towards the class as they all began to understand what she meant. "If you would have all walked up to the board, and put in any answers you had, as well as your kills, you would not have directly violated any rules, in fact, you would have all 'attempted' to answer the questions, while also giving all the information you would need. This is why I want to teach you all as much as I can because thinking your way out of problems is the only real way to survive the monsters we fight." Steel explained, walking back to her desk, holding herself up in annoyance. "Look… you all figured out a way, and congrats on passing, but, I want you all to know one thing… Never, and I mean, never, give your life away to try and be this brave and courageous image that everyone thinks a huntsman should be, save yourself, that's the most important thing I could tell you all." Steel sighed and the class fell into a dreadful silence, no one wanted to speak, not after what she had told them, and eventually, she broke the silence with a loud yawn.

"Oh well… That all being said, I suppose you did pass, so, if you all want, we can move past Grimmology, I'm getting pretty bored of it too." Steel's demeanor completely shifted, no longer was the weight of anger or disappointment hanging on her shoulders, instead, she looked ready to conquer her next challenges. It wasn't hard to see that the students wanted to change subjects; the cheers only supported the clapping and nodding for confirmation. "Very well, if you're all ready to move on, then how about we move on to what is going to be the most difficult course you will have?" the cheering stopped in its tracks, the thought of going to a hard subject would terrify any students, but coming from the teacher that could turn a test into a lecture? It would terrify most graduated Huntsmen. "The next course we will be addressing will last throughout the remainder of your time here at Beacon… we may move on to other subjects, but this one will always be studied upon, and trained for… I am of course talking about Semblances" The class sat on the edge of their seats. Everyone understood that the strongest weapon a Huntsman has is his semblance, with it, people can slaughter dozens of Grimm, or save dozens of civilians from harm, regardless a Semblance was a tool that you needed to become a great Huntsman.

"More specifically, we will be working on our own Semblances, both to understand them, and for you all to use them properly" this statement confused most of the class, as trainee's they had mostly all unlocked their semblance, and most came to an in-depth understanding of how it works. So the fact that this would be considered rigorous and difficult was confusing, to say the least. "I'm sure you are all aware of what your semblance is by now, in fact, most of you think you fully understand it, but I know for a fact that none of you truly understand what makes a Semblance so special... Take Ms. Rictoshouwa for instance, based on how she used her semblance today, you all know, or have a basic understanding that her semblance allows her the ability to transmit thought… but that is simply not true." Murmurings ran through the class and Steel indicated towards Sky "If you would, could you please explain to the class the full extent of your semblance, and all of its abilities" Sky was slightly off-put, but she stood and began to address the rest of her fellow classmates.

"Well, My semblance is as I like to call it… 'Telepathy' it has the ability to not only read other peoples minds but also to insert my own feelings or thoughts into others." Sky explained and the class seemed to understand, they had already seen first hand the effects of her abilities so it wasn't too hard to comprehend.

"Ms. Rictoshouwa, I said list off all of its capabilities..." Steel seemed intent on correcting her, but Sky just looked puzzled

"I don't understand what you mean, I told all it can do" Sky defended herself, but Steel shook her head disapprovingly.

"I apologize, but you are incorrect in your assumption that your semblance is limited to those abilities… as are the rest of you." Sky at this point had returned to her chair and the class listened closely as Ms. Steel presented her corrections to their beliefs. "First of all, let me address the main problem everyone seems to always have… Your semblance is limited… No one in this room, besides myself, has fully understood what their semblance is capable of, let me explain it in a more, approachable manner. You all have Tier ones… If I were to explain things as simply as I could, I would say that all of your semblances are in stage, or tier one. That is to say, that your semblances are not limited to only being stage one, they could evolve into stage two, or even stage three, and that's exactly what I'm hoping for." Her quick explanation left everyone at odds, their understanding of how a semblance works was completely flipped on its head.

"Wait, you mean that my semblance is basically only a level one semblance? And that I can level it up?" Jaye questioned aloud, wanting to make sure he understood what she meant.

"Exactly Mr. Bosen… To explain better I would like you all to approach the center of the room one at a time, and explain to the class your full understandings of your semblance, and I would like the class to try and think of ways to better understand their semblance… this is a great team-building exercise, as it bears the heart to everyone and everyone tries to better understand each other. This also works well because the first step to improving a semblance is getting a better understanding of it… So I would like all first years to go first, second years, we will work on you eight after the next mission, it's coming up in a week, so I doubt we'll have enough time until then… That being said, would the four members of team Jade please come down here, you'll be our guinea pigs for this experiment." Ms. Steel singled out team JADD and they all quickly made their way down the steps, Denim made sure to walk behind Amber, so she wouldn't get left behind, nor would she be left to any possible discrimination at the back of the line, Daisy seemed to notice as well and walked just in front of Amber, not going too fast to make her nervous to catch up. Jaye, however, didn't seem to notice at all, as he was the first to get down and was well ahead of the other three.

"Ok, now that you four are down here, Mr. Bosen, since you are team Captain, would you like to go first in explaining your semblance to the class?" Jaye nodded and stepped forward, standing in front of the desk looking towards the crowd with a wide smirk.

"Listen up, My semblance is called 'Recovery' it's a nice fall back semblance, it allows me to instantly gain all Aura lost within the last hour, meaning, if I go into a heavy fight I barely can't win, I'm granted a second chance in the middle of the fight," Jaye explained his Recovery semblance and murmurings began again until eventually, Purg stood.

"Hey, that's how you won against, X! No wonder you weren't concerned at all, you were banking on your semblance" Purg explained how he had managed to beat X with seemingly no injuries, and Jaye winked towards Purg for having figured it out.

"Ok class, now is the time to try and understand his semblance, why does he have this ability? What made him unlock this one? And what could make this semblance more powerful?" The students pondered the questions, and Jaye seemed annoyed that no one could come up with anything.

"When did you first discover your semblance?" X asked first, instead of suggesting something, he inquired to know more information before stating anything. Steel seemed to approve of the question as she nodded her head slightly.

"There I was, surrounded by creeps, those little monsters sure bite hard… anyway, I had killed most of them no sweat, but the fight lasted too long, eventually, they got through my aura… and right as I thought I was going to die, it all came flooding back into me, it felt like I traveled back in time, but was still sitting there watching the mouth chomp down onto me… needless to say, I was able to win against the remaining Creeps, but if my semblance hadn't activated, I wouldn't be here today." Jaye reveled in his story, it wasn't uncommon for a Huntsman or Huntress to have similar stories, but rarely did they escape without a scratch.

"I propose the reason Jaye unlocked this particular semblance isn't for survival… no, it's because he hates losing." The class was impressed with how quick X could return his answers, and at how he was the first that held a suggestion towards the meaning of his semblance. "Jaye is a strong-willed and stubborn Huntsman, he may not be the strongest, but he has a lot of will, and he loves being in the spotlight; that being said, I can infer that having a shadow cast over him is one of his more innate fears, he may not realize it, or he may not want it to be public, but it's clear he dislikes loosing in any way. Knowing that, his semblance is perfect for this, it allows him the backbone he needs to keep the fight in his favor, as long as he is widling the enemy down as much as they are him, he'll most likely come out on top." X finished his long dialogue and Sky sat next to him with her mouth gapping from shock. In fact, most of the students had a similar response to his quick knowledge of his semblance. "What? It's pretty simple if you think about it… I would have thought you'd at least understand that much" He said gesturing towards Sky, who immediately looked away humming, trying to make it not obvious that she has very little knowledge on the subject.

"Very good observation X, Yes, unlike what most would think, even though Mr. Bosen's semblance erupted in a time where his goal was to not die, there has always been an ultimate goal of not loosing, which would tie into the game of life. Meaning that his semblance is ultimately the embodiment of wanting to always have a trump card, and always win the fight… knowing this, what do you think could make his semblance more powerful, or effective?" Ms. Steel quickly transitioned into the next thought; what would make Jaye's semblance more powerful?

"Well, considering that it only recovers the aura lost within the last hour, there could be a number of things to improve, like, maybe if it not only recovered his aura, but his body healed, or maybe extend the period from when he recovered his aura… or even reduce the time limit on his semblance, since it has a full day wait time until he is capable of using it again." He finished explaining and the other students began to chime in with their own opinions. Eventually, Ms. Steel got everyone to calm down before speaking once again.

"Those are all good suggestions and observations, however, it is Jaye's semblance, and therefore it is his path to discover, that being said, I intend every one of you to have reached a higher form of your semblance by the end of your second year, this will give us all plenty of time to further understand ourselves, that being said, thank you Mr. Bosen… Now, may I have Ms. Clienheart come up next? I think her semblance is quite intriguing." Steel suggested, and Amber reluctantly walked forward, holding her head low and her arms at her side, refusing to make eye contact with the teacher. "Ms. Clienheart, I understand you prefer to sign, so don't worry about speaking, I know the language… If you would, could you tell the class the name of your semblance?" Amber slowly brought her hands up, her right hand moved to her head holding one finger up and the rest in a pinching fashion next to her forehead, she then brought her hand away from her head and pinched her finger into the rest of her hand, swiftly moving it up to her chest, where her left hand moved in unison, shaking away from each other. The two movements were quick and not very noticeable, but both Ebony and Steel seemed to understand what they meant as they both had the same understanding look. "For those of you that do not understand… Her semblance is named 'Nightmare'…" Amber held her head low, but her bat-like ears were positioned naturally.

Out of the corner of his vision, he noticed that Shayne from team SMKE had leaned over and was whispering into the ear of Matul, even with his enhanced senses it was hard to hear what he said, but clear enough to understand "Perfect name for someone that looks like that" it may have been hard for a human to hear, but it was obvious that X, Ebony, and even Amber heard it. X stared them down with a petrifying glare, Ebony sighed in frustration and annoyance, and Amber sunk her head lower, her ears lowering in shame. Amber quickly tried to brush her hair to cover them, but it wasn't easy with everyone's piercing eyes burning holes in her. Sky then used her semblance to tell Denim what had happened, since she obviously hadn't heard it, and Denim shot them both a stare from hell itself.

"Ms. Clienheart, I don't think a simple name can properly explain your semblance… how about a demonstration?" Ms. Steel suggested with a smirk before raising her eyebrow to gesture towards Shayne and Matul, she glanced from Steel to Denim, who grinned brightly.

"Get'em good" Denim whispered loud enough so that Amber could hear, She meekly nodded before raising her head, she locked eyes with both of them; and the world went black.

* * *

 _Authors Notes: Hey guys, this one was actually pretty fun to write, so now we learned that Semblances aren't just single-use abilities, there's more than meets the eye, and who knows what kind of 'Level Ups' our characters may unlock in the future. Make sure to let me know who your favorite character is so far, and who has the best Semblance. Also leave a review about what you think Ms. Steel's semblance is, I've hinted about it a lot, and I really want you guys to start making your own theories about it. The next chapter will probably be some more class time, but there is a mission coming up, and I promise it isn't going to be the slow-paced wall walking mission like last time. Now that they're getting into the grooves of things, they can start to go on actual hunts, so be sure to stick around and check all that out. Until next time_


	14. Comic Update

Hey all, it's been a long time, and I apologize for the wait. Sadly I will not be continuing the written story of New Adventures... BUT that is simply due to the fact that I am now starting to convert the story into a Comic Series, that's right, all 13 chapters thus far and every chapter to come will be in Comic/Manga format! Now, it takes time and Money to make Comics, and while Time is something we all have, Money is something I don't have the luxury of, that's why I've started a Go-Fund-Me page! I'm hoping to raise the money needed chapter by chapter, and together we'll be able to pump out new story and new more intense action, Finally you'll all be able to actually SEE the Grimm monsters, and you'll watch in awe as some of the Characters dance on screen, Semblance action and all, So I urge you to go check out the Page, if you can't leave a Donation yourself that's perfectly fine, just share it around, the more exposure we get, the quicker we can make this a reality. Thank you all so much for waiting so long, and thank you so much for helping as much as you have, it's really helped in the long run. I hope to get back to you all soon with the first chapter, until then Byyee!~


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